His father, Kazimierz Goldfarb, a Polish Jewish engineer moved to the country from England after marrying Godwin's mother.

He was conscripted into the British South Africa Police at the age of seventeen to fight in the Rhodesian Bush War.

[5] Godwin was formerly a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times (London), covering wars in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.

Later, he was the chief correspondent for the BBC's foreign affairs programme, directing documentaries on Cuba, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans.

[9] In 2012, Godwin was named President of PEN American Center, the largest branch of the world's oldest literary and human rights organisation.

Godwin was interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air (NPR) in March 2011 about the situation in Zimbabwe since the 2008 general election.

[20][21][22] Godwin was married to Joanna Coles, living together in the Upper West Side of Manhattan with their sons, Thomas and Hugo, who as of November 2019 were aged 20 and 18 respectively, and with a dog, Phoebe.