Urja Joshi: The Youngest Best-Selling Female Author of India

Urja Joshi is the youngest best-selling female author of India, illustrator, podcaster, speaker & songwriter. Born in 2001, on 28th July. Urja Joshi is amongst a young published author, illustrator, podcaster, songwriter, performer, speaker, and much more.

Early Life and Inspiration

The story of the writer began at just 7 years old, when she developed an interest in reading books, because of her father. Growing up, Urja was a shy and introverted kid, so to express herself, she started writing personal diaries. She found writing a very expressive medium for her, where she could write her exact mind out without worrying too much. She credits her parents a lot in her interest in writing and sketching, as her parents were and still are very dedicated readers. Urja’s father owns a very elaborate collection of books.

Journey as a Writer

Urja Joshi grew up writing and expressing herself through words and reading books, until the year 2015, when she was diagnosed with a fatal disease. After a whole 5 months of this war between her and her life, she made it out of it like a miracle, and she remembers that the first thing she wanted to do after getting discharged from the hospital was write on an even bigger level. She created an Instagram account and started her professional writing by posting small snippets of her written work on the platform.

Breakthrough and Success

Urja Joshi wrote her first-ever book, “THE TEN STEPS,” when she was just 15, and did not release it until she was 16, in 2017. The genre was non-fiction and self-help; it blew her image up in school and even in her hometown, Dehradun. After the debut book, Urja took a long 2-year break to focus on her studies but was hit by depression instead, because of her physical recovery and not being able to write because of the pressure of schooling.

“I felt I’ve become stagnant, and I was not going towards my dreams.” She describes it.

Further Success and Recognition

After a long break, on February 14th, 2019, Urja Joshi released her second book, “THE MAGICAL LIFE,” which dealt with a mature topic for a writer her age, and she discussed various tips and suggestions to make life better in it. She describes it as a project she really respects, as she wrote about the truths of life at a very young age. After “The Magical Life,” she had to return to her schooling life, as she had to complete her 12th grade and close the chapter of high school in her life.

“When I was in class 12th, I became a very secure and comfortable person, and I have no clue how and why. I wanted to have a backup career for writing because I was not sure if I would make it. But it was not until the pandemic & lockdown, when not only did my plans of going abroad get canceled, but I got enough time to think about who I really want to be. I brainwashed myself, and I was ready to be a risk-taker. I decided to go all in writing, and I cut my ties off every backup plan that I had for me.” As she adds, she adopted the “if it is meant to be, it will happen” approach towards her dreams. And wrote her most successful work to date, “Yellow: The Verses of Hurting & Healing,” a completely new genre, a mix of poetry and prose with messages of grief and healing after that.

Achievements and Future Plans

Urja Joshi became the youngest best-selling author of India and won many awards, which made her “Best Poetry Author 2021” and “Best Female Author 2020.” She was even named the young generation’s most influential woman of the year 2020, and “Yellow” continued to be in the top 100 books of 2020 for a whole 3 months after its release.

As an artist, she loves to experiment with her projects, and she would love to write books from other genres as well. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree from Delhi University and continues writing on Instagram. She wants to have her book tour one day and collaborate with many artists when it comes to songwriting. She wants to be a young writer with a positive influence on her audience, and she also wishes for her poetry to reach people of different cultures, ethnicities, and countries. Writing ascends all the barriers, and she wants her books to do the same.

“I believe I change every month, every year, so any bio cannot describe me fully as a person, but my story will always remain the same, that’s why I wish to share it with people.” – Urja Joshi.