Abdi Nazemian

Abdi Nazemian (born 1976) is an Iranian-American author, screenwriter, and producer. His debut novel, The Walk-In Closet, won the Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction at the 27th Lambda Literary Awards. He has subsequently received a second Lambda Literary Award for his young adult novel Only This Beautiful Moment, as well as a Stonewall Book Award for Only This Beautiful Moment and a Stonewall Honor for Like a Love Story, both from the American Library Association.

Career Nazemian is a Choate Rosemary Hall alumnus. It was at Choate that he first wanted to become a writer. Nazemian continued his education at Columbia University and then at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a Master of Business Administration.

Since, Nazemian has also worked as a screenwriter, including the television shows Ordinary Joe, Almost Family, The Village and It's Not Like That, and the films The Artist's Wife, Menendez: Blood Brothers, Beautiful Girl, Celeste in the City and The Quiet. As head of development for Water's End Productions, Nazemian has served as an executive producer or associate producer on numerous films, including Call Me By Your Name, Little Woods, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, It Happened in L.A., The Price, and The House of Tomorrow.

Literary work His debut young adult novel, The Authentics, was released in 2017 by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins. His third novel, Like a Love Story, a love letter to queer history, ACT UP and Madonna, was released in 2019, again by Balzer + Bray. It was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best young adult novels of all time, received a Stonewall Honor and a nomination for the Audie Awards.

His fourth novel, The Chandler Legacies, which is inspired by his time at boarding school, was published in 2022. His 2023 young adult novel, Only This Beautiful Moment, won the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Young Adult Literature

His upcoming novel Desert Echoes will be published by HarperCollins in the United States in September 2024.

Nazemian's books, especially Like a Love Story, have been widely challenged or banned across the United States. He told CNN that his response to the banning is, "First and foremost, a heartbreak over the message it sends to young queer kids who deserve love and support."

Awards and honors Three of Abdi Nazemian's books are Junior Library Guild selections: Like a Love Story (2019), The Chandler Legacies (2022), and Only This Beautiful Moment (2023).

Time named Like a Love Story among the 100 best young adult novels of all time.

Only This Beautiful Moment was included on Booklist 's 2023 "Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth" list. It was also included on best books of the year lists from publications including The Guardian, New York Public Library, Kirkus, and The Boston Globe.

Only this Beautiful Moment was also the winner of both the 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Young Adult Literature and the 2024 Stonewall Award for Young Adult Literature from the American Library Association. +Awards for Nazemian's writing Year Title Award Result 2014

Next Generation Indie Book Award for Multicultural Fiction 2015 Lambda Literary Award for LGBT Debut Fiction

Audie Award for Young Adult Title Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award 2023

Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award 2024 Lambda Literary Award for Young Adult Literature Desert Echoes. HarperCollins. 2024. ISBN 978-0063339637.

Filmography Year Title Creator Writer ExecutiveProducer Notes 2019 The Village Almost Family 2021 Ordinary Joe 2026