Dr. Darya Hodaei

Darya Hodaei, PharmD, is a best-selling author, clinical research professional, and activist known for her unique multicultural children's books. Fluent in Azerbaijani, Turkish, English, and Farsi (Persian), she began writing short stories at age nine. Deprived of education in her native Azerbaijani, she later taught herself to read and write in the language as an adult, inspired by her desire to help preserve cultural identity.

As an immigrant parent, Darya strongly believes in the importance of preserving one's ethnic culture and mother language. To support bilingual and multilingual children, she created the “EnglishAzerbaijani” platform, publishing books and animations. She publishes her stories in both English and Azerbaijani to encourage parents and promote mother language education.