Zanib Mian on becoming a writer and the relatability of Planet Omar

They’ve also been featured in The Guardian for their contribution to diverse children’s literature – impressive accolades for someone who never set out to be an author.

Although she fell in love with writing at primary school, Mian never harboured aspirations to write professionally, and after studying molecular cell biology she went on to teach secondary school science. But inspired by the antics of her young son, and an awareness of a lack of diverse characters in children’s literature, Mian decided to fill this gap herself. Her 2017 book The Muslims, which told the story of Omar, a funny, inquisitive and ordinary boy from an ordinary family who happens to be Muslim, won the 2018 Little Rebels Award and was longlisted for the 2018 UKLA Book Awards.

Omar’s adventures have subsequently been expanded into a popular series, and it is to promote the fifth book in the Planet Omar series – Planet Omar & an Ultimate Rocket Blast – Mian joined us at our 2023 Imagine Festival. Ahead of that interactive event we caught up with the author to find out more about her route into writing, and to see if she had any top tips for people looking to follow in her pen strokes.

Hi Zanib, how’re you? How’s your 2023 started?

Hi! I’m great, thank you! Hope you’re well too? 2023 is off to an exciting start. I’m geared up for whatever this year has in store!

Well one thing 2023 has in store is that you’re joining us as part of our Imagine Children’s Festival. What was your own favourite book as a child?

My favourite book was the tale of Chicken Liken, it was a Ladybird ‘first favourites’ book in hardcover. It was so precious to me that my mum held on to it through the years and I still have that copy today! I recently found it tucked away in a box in the loft!

You were a science teacher before becoming an author, but was being a writer something you always wanted to be? Or did you have another dream job growing up?

No, I never imagined that being a writer was something I could be, as a young child. I thought the books I read were by tremendously special people, who are unreachable and mostly not with us anymore! But I did love writing and I filled notebooks with my stories and poems.

What was the inspiration behind Planet Omar?

There were a couple of things. I had been thinking for a while about writing a character based on my son’s personality and hijinks! Omar is my son at nine-years old, with a sprinkle of exaggeration. But the real impetus to get it done, and the basis of the story, came from the environment at the time. It was 2017, and with Donald Trump’s campaign for presidency and the post-Brexit talks, there was a real, worrying rise in racist and Islamophobic incidents. So I wanted to correct some negative stereotypes and misconceptions.

How has your experience as a teacher helped when it comes to depicting school life in your books?

I think it’s one of those things where even though I may not consciously draw on my time as a teacher, naturally, when I write, the ‘bank’ of everything I have experienced in life is ready to deliver. So, I instinctively imagine how a classroom scene might play out, or the dynamics between a teacher and her students.

Has the success of the Planet Omar series surprised you at all?

Yes! I myself have grown so much in writing it because I found that what I always hoped when I wrote the first book is true. That people do take a sincere interest in each other’s stories and are excited to learn why and how people from different cultures do things. Most importantly, that we have so much more in common than we might perceive. Our humanness unites us. And that’s why the books resonate with people, because, yes Omar and his family are Muslim, but they have the same highs and lows and hilarious experiences as any reader.

What inspires you to write; do you have an established method for coming up with ideas for new stories?

I never ‘force’ any idea. I just let it come to me. Sometimes, something someone says or does, or something they experience might trigger an idea. I’m also very led by my characters, so I might one daydream up an appealing, multi-layered character and then imagine what his or her story might be.

What’s the coolest thing to happen to you that’s come as a consequence of becoming a writer?

I think it has to be the fact that Planet Omar is being developed for television! I’ve been very involved at each step and it’s been fascinating to see how things are done in the world of TV.

And lastly, if you could give only two tips to any aspiring young writer, what would they be?

The ‘bank’ I mentioned earlier – fill it up with all that you can! Books, TV, real life. Even something that you deposited in the bank years ago can impact your story. And, people – the characters you write will often be people or based on human ways and traits (even if your character is a talking bear). So observe people closely. Notice things about them and be present with every interaction you have with others.