© Jonny Pickles
About
My author bio for media and events:
Jasmine Donahaye is author of six books, including Birdsplaining: a Natural History, and the award-winning memoir Losing Israel. Her work has appeared in the New York Times Modern Love column, in the Guardian and on BBC Radio 4. She is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at Swansea University, and a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
So you want to know more about me. Well…
I’m a writer, conflict coach, accredited mediator and recovering academic. I share my home in Wales with a small blue parrotlet, and other wild neighbours who sometimes wander in.
Born and raised in England, I dropped out of school at seventeen and ran away to Israel, where my mother is from. Then I emigrated to the US at the age of twenty-one. I spent twelve years in California working for non-profit organisations, before moving to mid Wales in 2002. I have been here ever since.
I have a BA from UC Berkeley, and a PhD from Swansea University. I also have two adult kids – one living in a Californian forest, the other in Berlin.
After eight years working in publishing I spent fifteen years teaching and supervising emerging writers at Swansea University, where I am now Emeritus Professor in English Literature and Creative Writing. I also spent that time airing opinions in the press and broadcast media, and conducting scholarly research on Welsh and Jewish literature and culture.
In 2024 it was time to pursue what I care about in a new way – namely nurturing my own writing, nurturing the writing of others, and exploring innovative paths towards creative conflict resolution. I trained as a conflict coach with CAOS, and as a mediator with the Society of Mediators and Smile Mediation Services, where I now volunteer as a mediator.