Jonathan was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1972, and grew up in the strange blank countryside of Essex – not then a fashionable part of the world but now, he finds, increasingly – and surprisingly – so. He lives in London with his wife and family, and works as a journalist on the website of the Independent, as well as writing on books and other subjects for, over the years, The Independent, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, the FT and the TLS. He occasionally pops up on radio, talking about books, and blogs on book design for The Independent.

He studied on the MA in Creative Writing at UEA, and went on to take a PhD there. This was where he wrote Randall, which was – in the now traditional manner – roundly rejected by a dozen major publishers, before being picked up by Galley Beggars.

His short fiction, which seems to be largely about sex, has appeared in Lighthouse, The South Circular and Gorse (Issue 2, forthcoming). His story The Story I'm Thinking of was shortlisted for the inaugural White Review Short Story Prize, and The Faber Book of Adultery, first published in Lighthouse, was anthologised in Salt's Best British Short Stories 2014.

He tweets as @Tiny_Camels and blogs at tinycamels.wordpress.com. His story Tiny Camels is available from Shortfire Press.