Biography
Atia Abawi is a journalist, author, analyst, host and writer.
From an early age, Atia knew she wanted to be a journalist. After graduating from Virginia Tech, where she anchored the college’s local television station VTTV, Atia volunteered and was then hired on at CTV 76 –a local TV station in Largo, MD. In Maryland, Atia covered a wide range of stories – from politics to the impact that drugs and crime had on the local community - before moving to Atlanta to work for CNN.
At CNN, she started in the Media Operations department before making her way to the international desk. Within 2-years Atia was out in the field, producing on stories that included Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in Pakistan and the war in Iraq. A year-later she was hired to be CNN’s Afghanistan correspondent and manager of its Kabul bureau – an operation that she organized and set up.
In Afghanistan, Atia spent time traveling and embedding with U.S., NATO and Afghan forces -including during major military operations. She has also interviewed numerous Afghan, International, and American politicians and generals.
Outside of Afghanistan, Atia reported on various international stories for CNN -including the Aung San Suu Kyi trial – where she had to sneak into Myanmar’s military state and film covertly - and the Gaza Flotilla attack of 2010 by Israeli forces.
In 2010, NBC News hired Atia to report and manage its operations in Afghanistan. Additionally, she also reported from London as part of NBC’s Royal wedding coverage, and was a part of the NBC News special report after the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, providing analysis and commentary. She was also able to obtain an NBC Exclusive interview with President Hamid Karzai in 2012 - the first for the network in a decade.
After nearly 5-years of living in Afghanistan, Atia moved to Jerusalem in January 2013. In that year, she covered President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Israel and Palestine, the military coup in Egypt, and the Kenyan mall siege by Al-Shabab militants among other stories.
Atia’s first book, “The Secret Sky: A Novel of Forbidden Love in Afghanistan” was published by Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Group, in September 2014. Her second book, "A Land Of Permanent Goodbyes", released on January 23, 2018. The story is based on the ongoing Refugee Crisis. Her next book, “She Persisted: Sally Ride” released in March 2021; the book is a series created by Chelsea Clinton.
In 2022, Atia began her television writing career and is represented by The Gotham Group.
She has won numerous awards for both her journalistic achievements and written, including The George Foster Peabody Award and The duPont-Columbia Awards.
Atia Abawi graduated from Virginia Tech and was awarded their Outstanding Alumna honor. She is fluent in Dari and Farsi. Born in Germany, she moved to America at the age of one, growing up in Virginia. Atia is married to journalist Conor Powell. They live in Los Angeles with their young children.