AUTHOR / BROADCASTER / GUIDE

Brian John was born in Carmarthen in 1940 and brought up in
Pembrokeshire. He is married and has two grown up sons and two
grandsons. He studied at Haverfordwest Grammar School and at Jesus College Oxford, where he read Geography and obtained his D Phil degree for a pioneering study of the Ice Age in Pembrokeshire. He then worked as a field scientist in Antarctica and spent eleven years as a Geography Lecturer in Durham University. He has travelled widely in the Arctic, Antarctic and Scandinavia. In 1977 he and his family moved to a smallholding near Newport in Pembrokeshire, and since then he has made his living as a writer and publisher. He is also actively involved in many environmental and community organizations.

He has published hundreds of articles and around 60 books. His published output includes university texts, walking guides, coffee table glossies, and books of popular science. Many of his titles have been of particular interest to readers in Wales -- for example tourist guides, books of local jokes, walkers’ handbooks, and titles on local folklore, history and traditions. One of his biggest writing projects was the collecting and recording of more than 500 local folk tales, many of which had never before been written down.
In recent years he has written the five novels which make up the Angel Mountain Saga. The stories have received wide acclaim for their narrative skill, their strong sense of place, and their historical authenticity. Much to Brian’s surprise, the Saga has been a runaway success, and the heroine, Mistress Martha Morgan, now has a cult following of readers from all over the world. The series has now been sold to Transworld Publishers, and the books will be republished as from 2006 under the Corgi imprint.

Brian is a well-known lecturer and tour guide, having participated in many university field trips and having contributed for more than 20 years to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park programme of walks and talks. He has also led many "literary walks" on and around Carningli-- the setting for the adventures of the feisty heroine of the Angel Mountain novels.