Author Nikki Gemmell, and her husband, Andrew Sholl, have welcomed their fourth child and third son, Jago, on July 7. The name Jago was suggested by a schoolteacher from Cornwall, and as Andrew’s surname is Cornish, it made sense. The Cornish form of James, it’s pronounced JAY-go. Jago Sholl has two older brothers called Oliver and Lachlan, aged around 9 and 10, and a big sister old enough to go to school, but I have not been able to discover her name.

Nikki has worked as a radio journalist for the ABC, and been a producer for the BBC World Service, but she is best known as a novelist. Her 2003 novel, The Bride Stripped Bare, became a best-seller, and a notorious talking point because of its explicit sexual content. Nikki is greatly appreciated in France, where she has been described as “a female Jack Kerouac“. She currently writes a column for The Australian, and a companion piece to The Bride Stripped Bare will be published next year.

Andrew Sholl is a former Australian journalist who has worked extensively in media public relations in the UK, including as an adviser to former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He is currently head of external communications for the NBN Co., which is setting up the much-touted digital broadband network around Australia. Nikki and Andrew are now based in Sydney, after many years living in Notting Hill, London.

Last month, Nikki wrote a column about unexpectedly becoming pregnant in her mid-forties, and the joy that baby Jago has brought their family.

(Story and photo from The Australian, September 17 2011)