Hello, I’m a writer based in Sunderland in the North-East of England. I’ve sold over thirty short stories; some of those have won awards or been reprinted in anthologies and my short story ‘Birds of the Mountain’ was shortlisted for, and came second in, the 2019 Costa Short Story Award at the Costa Book Awards. My novel ‘One of Us’ is published by infinityplus,  I’ve won a Northern Writers’ Award, and been shortlisted for the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award, and the Bath Novel Award. I’ve also written a short play which was professionally produced.

I’m represented by Tom Drake-Lee at the D H H Literary Agency.

I’ve led writer development activities since 2014. I’m founder and Director of Sunderland Creative Writing CIC, a non-profit community interest company formed into 2021 to act as an umbrella for creative writing and creative writer development in Sunderland.  Here are some of the things I’ve done which are now under the SCW umbrella.

• I was the founder and Creative Director of two month-long Festivals of Creative Writing, the last of which drew over 500 people from all over the north easy to masterclasses, workshops, and performances.

• I founded and run the Holmeside Writers group, which has now run continually for seven years, and regularly draws over twenty people to its meetings, and has included masterclasses and discussions with novelists, playwrights, performance poets, graphic novelists, and directors of physical theatre.

• I co-chaired the Sunderland chapter of arts and culture organisation “WhatNext?” and am a Sunderland Creative Development Fellow. I have been an invited judge for the last three years of the ‘Sunderland Shorts’ short film festival.

If you’d like to talk about development opportunities for writers, or how I could link you to writers who can deliver workshops, or for anything else, then take a look at Sunderland Creative Writing CIC.

Outside writing, I work in higher education, and am proud to be an active volunteer for Sea Shepherd UK, and a newly trained Marine Mammal Medic for British Divers Marine Life Rescue. Always the sea. Always.