Jonathan Falla was born in Jamaica and read English and Art History at Cambridge. He went to Java to edit magazines for an Indonesian publisher, then worked for Oxfam in Uganda. This led him to qualify as a nurse; he was nursing children until 2006. He has trained paramedics for insurgents in Burma, was Co-ordinator for Save the Children in Darfur, and then their Field Director in Nepal. Jonathan has held a Fullbright Senior Fellowship in screenwriting at the University of Southern California, and teaches creative writing (to both adults and school groups) for the Arvon Foundation. In 2007 he won a Creative Scotland award, the country’s major prize for a new arts project. He is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. A lutenist and singer, he also works with a professional early music consort.
