Jake Wallis Simons is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster.
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Jake Wallis Simons was born in London in 1978. His mother is Jewish and his father is not. From the age of five, Simons was brought up by his mother within the orthodox Jewish community in London. At the age of 17 he abandoned the religious life. In 1999 he won a place at Oxford University to read English at St Peter's College.
While at Oxford, Simons became a member of a major Buddhist group. After some years of involvement, however, he abandoned this religion too in favour of secularism. His first novel, The Exiled Times of a Tibetan Jew, was written during that time and published in 2005. It was named as a Book of the Year by the Independent on Sunday, who wrote “Simons has to be the most exciting new writer to appear this year.” It was also praised by the late Beryl Bainbridge, who called the novel “entertaining, provocative and original.”
In 2006, Simons undertook a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, under the auspices of Andrew Cowan and Trezza Azzopardi. The book that he wrote during this period, The English German Girl, – an intricately researched historical novel about the Kindertransport – was published in Spring 2011. It has been called "fascinating and moving" by Monica Ali, and "a powerful evocation of a bygone era" by Sir Martin Gilbert. The Guardian writer Jonathan Freedland said it was "an important subject explored by a writer to watch." The first print run sold out in four days, and in May 2011 it was announced as one of eight winners of the Fiction Uncovered promotion. it has also been praised by the Times, the Guardian and others.
Simons is a prolific journalist, writing regular features for the Times, the Guardian and other broadsheets. His cartoons have appeared in the Times. He also broadcasts for BBC Radio 4.
Simons is married, with three children. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and lives with his family in Winchester.
http://www.jakewallissimons.com/
http://www.theenglishgermangirl.com/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/13/jewish-orthodox-jake-wallis-simons
http://polygon.birlinn.co.uk/author/details/Jake-Wallis-Simons-498/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exiled-Times-Tibetan-Jew-Tragicomedy/dp/1904598374