Writers Talking: Jamila Gavin

Brunel University is a very proud partner of the Nero Book Awards and the Nero New Writers Prize for unpublished writers.

As part of our support of the Nero Book Awards we have the great pleasure of inviting the four Nero Book Awards Category Winners to join us for our Writers Talking series. These events offer an opportunity to hear from the authors about the inspiration behind their award-winning books, and for all aspiring writers to learn about their approach to writing craft.

On October 27th, Jamila Gavin, Winner of the Children’s Fiction Category, will be interviewed by Dr. Jessica Cox. Jamila Gavin MBE was born in Mussoorie, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. With an Indian father and an English mother, she always felt she belonged to both countries, and they moved to England when she was 11. She studied music and worked for the BBC before having a family of her own and becoming a children’s writer, wanting to reflect the multicultural world in which she and her children now lived.

Her first book, The Magic Orange Tree was published in 1979, followed by numerous other short stories, collections and several novels including The Surya Trilogy, Coram Boy, and Blackberry Blue. Jamila won the Nero Book Awards Children’s Fiction Category in 2025 for her novel, My Soul, A Shining Tree. About My Soul, A Shining Tree By Jamila Gavin: Based on the true story of Indian WWI gunner and recipient of the Victoria Cross, Khudadad Khan.The story is told from four perspectives: Lotte, a Belgian farmgirl whose village is the flashpoint for a battle; Ernst, a German teenage cavalry soldier whose grandiose dreams of war lie in tatters; Khudadad Khan, the gunner fighting with the British Army; and the walnut tree that shelters them all.

For ages 9+