I am a poet and academic. My BA First-class honours was in Art History from the Manchester Metropolitan University, and I have two MAs (both Distinctions), in English Studies and in Creative Writing, from the University of Manchester. The latter took place within the Centre for New Writing, where I was taught by Vona Groarke and Jeanette Winterson. My first Ph.D. was also awarded by the University of Manchester, in English Studies, and I have a second Ph.D. from the Open University in Creative Writing. I am particularly interested in twentieth-century and contemporary British and American poetry, prose poetry, ekphrasis, word-image relationships, hybrid forms of writing, and how Creative Writing and English Literature intertwine.

About

I am an award-winning author from Manchester, UK. My debut poetry collection Full Sight of Her (2020) was nominated for the John Pollard Prize. This was preceded by a pamphlet, Nullaby (2017). Both books are published by Eyewear. My second collection, Exit Strategy, will be published by Broken Sleep (2025).

My poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland, The North, Gutter, Poetry Salzburg, Agenda, and The London Magazine. I also have a poem forthcoming in Poetry Wales. I have been included twice in the Best New British and Irish Poets anthology and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize. In addition, I have had a poem nominated for the Pushcart Prize.  

Along with poetry, I write short stories, flash fiction, lyric essays, and I am working on a memoir. 

I am an Associate Lecturer and Honorary Associate at the Open University, where I teach English Literature and Creative Writing, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

My critical writing centres on twentieth-century and contemporary English literature. My research engages with poetry especially, and word-image relationships.

I hold a First-class BA in the History of Art and Design from the Manchester Metropolitan University, along with two MAs (Distinctions), one in English Studies and the other in Creative Writing, from the University of Manchester.

I was awarded my first PhD in English Studies by the University of Manchester in 2007, and my second PhD in Creative Writing by the Open University, in 2022. 

I am a creative writing tutor and have organised a range of outreach activities. This has included poetry workshops at the University of Cambridge, the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester Museum, the Poetry School, Imagine Festival (Belfast), Bloomsbury Festival, City Lit, and Lancashire Libraries.