“My Soul, A Shining Tree” wins Nero Book Award!
“My Soul, A Shining Tree” has won the Nero Book Award for the Children’s Fiction! “My Soul, A Shining Tree is the exceptionally powerful story of three young lives unexpectedly entwined by war. Only a writer of genius could tell...
Stroud Book Festival 2025
Jamila shared the stage with Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse to discuss First World War stories at the Stroud Book Festival. She founded the event in 2016.
“My Soul, A Shining Tree” Nominated for Carnegie Medal
Jamila’s latest novel My Soul, A Shining Tree has been nominated for the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Writing. The winner will be announced in June 2026. To learn more about the book, click here.
My Soul, A Shining Tree | Coming July 2025
My new book My Soul A Shining Tree is coming July 2025! The cover art by Akrem Chebokha is luminously beautiful and encapsulates the book perfectly. My Soul, A Shining Tree has already been included on The Guardian’s list of...
Jamila Gavin awarded an MBE
Jamila has been awarded an MBE for her services to Children’s Literature. See below an excerpt from the London Gazette. For more details, click here. Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood St. James’s Palace, London SW1 15 June 2024...
‘Coram Boy’ at Chichester Festival Theatre
I love hearing of productions of “Coram Boy being underway” – whether in school halls – or theatres in all sorts of far-flung places. Now another, this time in Chichester, at the prestigious Chichester Festival Theatre. Every production I’ve seen...
‘Alexander the Great: Man, Myth or Monster’ now available in Paperback
Way back in 2012, Walker Books published my book Alexander the Great: Man, Myth or Monster. I was thrilled with it, as it was such a handsome book, and wonderfully illustrated by David Parkins. It lay dormant for some years,...
The Next & The Next
Being called a butterfly is often a derogatory term. It implies you flit about, unable to stick at anything. But the fact that my life has been all about flitting around, hasn’t made me feel a failure. It has made...









