MY STORY

I left college not really knowing what I would do next, and took on a series of administrative jobs in Education. The last of these was as an Administrator at Nottingham Trent University in the Centre for Access and Continuing Education. In the early 1990s, I joined a writers’ group and began to take writing seriously, attending events and workshops and finding out all I could about the poetry world.

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My first poem was published in a literary magazine in 1994, and I became active in entering competitions, submitting poems for publication and getting to know other writers. In 1999, my first poetry pamphlet was published. Over the years I have published five further collections of poetry and many of my poems have been commissioned, anthologised, performed and broadcast (see Poetry Publications).

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In 2000, my administrative experience and interest in writing came together with a move into a year-long Poetry Project Co-ordinator post in Newark and Sherwood, after which I successfully applied for the post of Literature Development Officer for Nottingham City, which involved supporting writers and arranging and co-ordinating writer events and opportunities, including directing Nottingham’s Poetry in the City Festival for four years. I moved to Derbyshire during this time, and was then able to support Nottingham writers in my work life, while concentrating on becoming a Derbyshire writer in my other life. In 2005, I became Derbyshire Poet Laureate, a two-year post writing poetry to commission for Derbyshire, appearing at poetry events and activities, and working with a number of community organisations (see Commissioned Work).

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I left the Literature Development Officer post in 2008, and for the next 10 years, worked as a freelance writer, creative writing tutor, mentor and coach, and Consultant in writing-related community work (see Community and Consultancy Work).

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In 2009, I wrote the libretto for the oratorio More Glass Than Wall, and next ventured into playwriting (see Playwriting).

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