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 their Field Director in Nepal.
His writing is mostly based on experiences abroad. A study of Burmese rebels, True Love & Bartholomew, was published by Cambridge University Press. His Ugandan play, Topokana Martyrs’ Day, was produced at the Bush Theatre (London). He has written scripts for a Nicaraguan theatre group and for community theatre in Edinburgh, and a musical for Perthshire schools. A feature film, ‘The Hummingbird Tree’, was produced by the BBC, winning several awards.He has had many stories and two novels published: Blue Poppies (set in Tibet) and Poor Mercy (set in Sudan).
Jonathan has held a Fulbright Senior Fellowship in screenwriting, and has also taught creative writing for the Arvon Foundation.
