Jamila Gavin

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Jamila Gavin (Born August 9, 1941) is a British writer born in Mussoorie, India in the foothills of the Himalayas near the border with Pakistan.

Her father was Indian and her mother English. She learned to describe herself as "half and half." On her website she says that from her mixed background "I inherited two rich cultures which ran side by side throughout my life, and which always made me feel I belonged to both countries".

She first visited England when she was five, and settled there when she was 11. She worked in the music department of the BBC before becoming a writer.

She wrote her first book after her first child was born because she became aware that there were few children's books reflecting their experience as multi-racial children. She has also written books reflecting her childhood in India, particularly her Surya Trilogy.

She now lives in Gloucestershire.

[edit] Works By Jamila Gavin

The Surya Trilogy is an epic story following the fortunes of two generations of an Indian Sikh family and showing the impact of the British Empire and the Partition of India on their lives. The three volumes are The Wheel of Surya (1992), The Eye of the Horse (1994) and The Track of the Wind (1997). All three books were shortlisted for the Guardian Award for which The Wheel of Surya was special runner up in 1993.

Coram Boy won the 2000 Whitbread Prize for a children's book. It is set in the 18th century, based on the Foundling Hospital established by sea captain Thomas Coram. Coram Boy has been dramatised by Helen Edmundson and staged in a highly praised production by the Royal National Theatre and briefly in 2007 on Broadway.

The Three Indian... series, including Three Indian Goddesses and Three Indian Princesses are collections of short stories based around Indian legends.

Grandpa Chatterji is a series for younger children. One of the books in the series, Grandpa Chatterji, was adapted for television in 1997. Other books in the series are Grandpa Chatterji's Third Eye and Grandpa's Indian Summer.