Jamal Mahjoub was born in London in 1960 where his father was stationed at the Sudanese cultural centre, Sudan House. He spent his formative years in Khartoum before being awarded a scholarship to Atlantic College in Wales. He went on to study Geology at Sheffield University. He returned briefly to the Sudan in search of employment after which he decided to dedicate himself to writing. Since then Mahjoub has lived in a number of places, including London, Denmark and currently Spain, as well as extensive periods in France.

He has worked in a variety of sectors to support his writing, including telemarketing, catering and futon making and has also worked as a librarian, freelance journalist and translator from Arabic, Danish and Catalan. His first three novels were published in the Heinemann African Writers Series. His most recent novel is Travelling With Djinns (Chatto & Windus 2003), which won the Prix de l’Astrolabe award in France in 2004. His short story The Cartographer’s Angel won the Heinemann/Guardian African Short Story Prize in 1993.

[Source: Caine Prize 2005]