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Jamila Gavin

(1941-), Children's writer

Sitter in 1 portrait
Born in Mussoorie, India to an Indian father and an English mother, who met as teachers in Iran and married in Mumbai, Jamila grew up feeling a part of both Indian and English cultures. Educated in England where her family settled, she trained as a music student at Trinity College of Music, London and continued to study in Paris and Berlin. She joined the BBC as a Studio Manager in radio and then as a Production Assistant and Director in Music and Arts Programmes in television. She married Barrie Gavin and the couple have two children. She started writing children's books because she felt a need to reflect the multi-cultural world in which her children were living. Her first book The Magic Orange Tree was published in 1979.

Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below

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Jamila Gavin, by Maud Sulter - NPG P949(4)

Jamila Gavin

by Maud Sulter
colour polaroid print, 2001
NPG P949(4)

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