Jayne Joso is a British novelist, playwright, writer and artist. Having lived and worked in Japan, China and Kenya she now lives in the UK. She received her first play commission in China. Written to celebrate Children's Day, the play, China's Smile, enjoyed a long theatre run and was later televised. Her poetic children's book How Do You Feel? was published in Japan and has been reprinted numerous times. In 2012, she was awarded the Coracle International Writer's Residency in Ireland. Her first novel, Soothing Music for Stray Cats explores the lives of disaffected city dwellers, and was heralded as "the debut of a distinctive voice in contemporary British Fiction" by social historian Joe Moran.