Jamila Gavin

Jamila Gavin (born 1941) is a British writer born in Mussoorie, India in the foothills of the Himalayas.

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 Stroud, Gloucestershire.