Devika Ponnambalam was born in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, came to the UK at the age of eight, and grew up in London. Her love of storytelling began as a teenager, when she discovered the films of the Chinese ‘Fifth Generation’ directors whose work spanned the 80s and early 90s, particularly Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige. At 18, she undertook BA (Hons) in Film and Video at West Surrey College of Art and Design and her first short film Azaadi was taken into distribution by Cinenova upon graduation. It has been shown all over the world, from the Hong Kong Arts Centre to British Council in Ethiopia. She then went on to the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, to specialise in Fiction Directing, graduating in 1998 with an award-winning short, Father’s Day.

Devika has received film commissions from the Arts Council of England, Film Four and the British Film Institute, and has also directed for mainstream TV in both the UK and Malaysia. 

In 2003, Devika took up an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she began her first novel. In 2018, she travelled to Tahiti with the assistance of a research and development grant awarded by Creative Scotland. In March 2022, I Am Not Your Eve, was published by Bluemoose Books. It has been shortlisted for three literary awards, including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2023. In 2027, she will publish her second novel with Bluemoose, entitled A Dream to the Sleeping Soul.