Quick Facts
Biography
David Charles Manners (born 1965) is a British writer, a representative for the charity Diversity Role Models, and the co-founder of Sarvashubhamkara, a charity that provides medical care, education and human contact to socially excluded individuals and communities on the Indian subcontinent, most of whom are affected by the stigma of leprosy.
Background
David's mother was raised in Sussex, his father on India's North-West Frontier and in the East Punjab. He is the great-great-great-grandson of Dr. Charles Thomas Pearce.
Education and Career
David worked as a theatre designer, primarily with Adventures in Motion Pictures. His designs included Matthew Bourne's Infernal Galop (1989; revived 1992), Deadly Serious (1992), The Percys of Fitzrovia (1992) and Drip (BBC's Dance for the Camera, 1993). 2012 saw Infernal Galop revived by Bourne's New Adventures, as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the founding of his companies.
He also designed the first Italian translation of Bernstein's Candide for Graham Vick at Batignano, Tuscany.
Awarded a BA Music (Sound & Image) degree from Newton Park College, Bath, he went on to train in Physical Medicine and subsequently worked for thirteen years as Physical Therapist with musicians, conductors and singers at Glyndebourne Festival Opera.
He is a contributor to various journals, including the National Geographic Traveller magazine.
His first book, In the Shadow of Crows, was published in 2009 by Reportage Press, A second edition, published by Signal Books, was released in August 2011.
David spent 2011 in collaboration with Jerwood Award-winning choreographer and director Ben Wright, creating text to inspire a new work for the dance company bgroup, which was taken on a national tour in the UK.
His second book, Limitless Sky, was released by Rider (imprint), a Random House division, in June 2014.
In 2015, David was interviewed for inclusion in the schools handbook How to Create Kind Schools by Jenny Hulme (published by Jessica Kingsley, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the national anti-bullying charity Kidscape.