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Jamila Gavin

(1941-), Children's writer

Sitter in 2 portraits
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 in harmony with her 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)

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

Jamila Gavin

by Maud Sulter
modern print from colour polaroid print, 2001; printed 2019
NPG P949(4)MP

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