Richard Rathwell was born in Ottawa in 1947. He attended High School in Oakville, Ontario where he won awards for public speaking, where his usual theme was political and literary utopias. His teachers found him oppositional.

Rathwell attended Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia for his honours degree where he was twice arrested protesting the nature of the university.

Following Canada, Richard lived in Ireland and was part of the Blue Apple rural writing collective. He won national awards in Ireland for short story writing and poetry. He worked as a journalist for the Kilkenny Phoenix and as a castle warden. He soon left Ireland for Nigeria.

Rathwell has taught literature in schools in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Lesotho as well as in Ireland. He was a tutor at Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria. He has won awards for children’s drama productions and writing in Nigeria and Zimbabwe. He was later invited to advise the World Bank. He has also worked as an expert adviser to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Rathwell’s career before he became a writer was, for an extended period of time, as a country director or executive for Aid organisations. This service took place initially in Nigeria, Lesotho and Egypt.There is a street in Gulu which may still bear his name, and a tree in India. During a period of absolute monarchy in Lesotho Rathwell was director of King Moshoeshoe II's social organisation.

Richard’s aid work is the basis of two of his novels. His experiences as an ‘exile’ serve as the basis of some of his other works. He presently resides in London, UK.

Selected Publications

The Bush: Hank the Aid Detective (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760700
The Borderline: Casebook Translations (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760751
Dono: About Writing (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760719
Yuuf: K.J's People (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760735
Fighting Terror in London (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760727
The Beak's Poems (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760743
Hope and Charity: Hank's Casebook (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 095476076X

Books in Print

The Bush: Hank the Aid Detective, Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760700, £10.
The Borderline: Casebook Translations, Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760751, £10.
Dono: About Writing, Non-Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760719, £5.
Yuuf: K.J's People, Non-Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760735, £5.
Fighting Terror in London, Non-Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760727, £5.
The Beak's Poems, Poetry (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 0954760743
Hope and Charity: Hank's Casebook, Non-Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2004) ISBN: 095476076X, £5.
Red the Nile, Blue the Hills, Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2005), £5.
Death's Doors, Fiction (Blue Orange Publishing, 2005), £10.
One Poem Forward, Two Poems Back, Poetry (Blue Orange Publishing, 2005) £5.

Contact

Richard Rathwell
develink@hotmail.com
http://www.richardrathwell.com/
http://www.blueorangepublishing.co.uk/