I am a British writer and journalist, linguist and editor. Since 2005 I have travelled across Eurasia — working in the cities of Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, and exploring their towns and wildernesses.
In the last 20 years I have been a student living in Russia (2005-2006); a translator at law firms in Kyiv, Ukraine (2007-2010); a translator and editor for business conferences in the Eurasia region (2011-2015); and a roving wine & spirits analyst (2015-2018). For this job I travelled to 11 countries – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey – to research reports about alcohol consumption and drinking trends.
***
As senior editor at The Times of Central Asia since 2023, I make several trips every year to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In 2024 I was in Kazakhstan to cover the B5+1 Forum in Almaty, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Astana — and in Kyrgyzstan to speak at the CAMCA Forum in Bishkek.
I have given interviews about Central Asian affairs to the pan-CIS television channel Mir24 TV (in Russian), and China Global Television Network (CGTN).
My first book, Getting Out: The Ukrainian Cricket Team’s Last Stand on the Front Lines of War, was shortlisted at the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards in 2025.
I have written about travelling in the Eurasia region for Lonely Planet, National Geographic Traveler, Open Central Asia magazine, and others. My writing has also been published in several books, including the Bradt Guides anthology Kidding Around, in several editions of the annual Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.
***
I have been a professional Russian translator since 2007, and now take on occasional creative projects — both independently, and as a committee member of the Eurasian Creative Guild. I translated the novel A Hundred Years on the Steppe by the Kazakh author Bayangali Alimzhanov in 2019, and wrote subtitles for the short Kyrgyz film Zhanyrtuu (Renewal) by filmmaker Victoria Arkhangelskaya in 2022.
***
In 2017 two of my photographs, from Almaty and Tashkent, were featured in the exhibition ‘Daily Life in Central Asia’, organised by the European Union’s SEnECA project.
I am also a freelance book editor. In 2021 I edited Begizhan Akhmedov’s The Wanderer, a spiritual novel set in the mountains of Central Asia, once named Kyrgyzstan’s book of the year. Away from Eurasia I have edited a book for PTSD survivors, John Metzger’s The Warrior’s Daily Struggle (2022) and a book about overcoming personal trauma, The Power of Reinvention by Mags Thomson (2021).
***
To discuss working together, please write to me at hello@jonathancampion.com.
LIFE IN CENTRAL ASIA 