“As a little girl my imagination was sparked by stories fondly told about our monkey, Oma, who was part of our family.”
Jasbinder Bilan is a children’s author.
Imagination and magic
‘I didn’t grow up in a house full of books, but I did grow up in a house full of stories.’
What do I value in the natural world
‘I have an image of myself as a baby, born in a stable close to the foothills of the Himalaya – a sort of wild child.’
Jasbinder Bilan in conversation with Sita Brahmachari
Expanding on the significance of the objects displayed on her mantelpiece
Biography
Jasbinder Bilan is an award-winning children’s author of magical realist middle-grade novels. Her debut Asha and the Spirit Bird (2019) won the Times Chickenhouse prize 2017 and the Costa children’s book award 2019 and was short-listed for the Waterstones children’s book prize 2019. Her writing is inspired by her roots in India and explores themes of family, friendship and hope. Tamarind and the Star of Ishta (2020) won the Indie book awards 2021 and the Calderdale school library awards 2021. Her latest books include Aarti and the Blue Gods (2021), which looks at the connections between Eastern and Western mythologies, and Nush and the Stolen Emerald (2024).
Jasbinder contributed to The Book of Hopes (2020), a collection of stories, poems and illustrations edited by children’s author Katherine Rundell to bring joy and hope to children during the pandemic. She has been commissioned to write numerous articles for the Guardian and The Observer. In October 2022, she published her first non-fiction book for children India Incredible India (2022). She has been commissioned to write the text for the new Museum of London exhibition exploring London’s pre-history.
