Education

I studied at Lancaster University under an academic scholarship. After three of the best years of my life, I left with a ‘first’ degree in English and Creative Writing. For anyone thinking about studying Creative Writing, Lancaster is currently home to the country's best department according to The Times Good University Guide. So definitely worth looking at.

I’m well past listening to the classic ‘you can’t teach writing’ spiel. Yes, of course there’s such a thing as talent, but writing is a skill that should be refined just like any other – it requires practice, theory, technique, discipline, and a conscious awareness of why you are doing what you are doing. Yes, break all the rules in the book, but before you can possibly do that you need to know what’s actually in the book.

I do semi-regular talks and workshops with students of primary school age right through to university. If your day-to-day is in a learning environment and you’d like me to pop down, drop me a line using the box below.