“An astonishingly smart writer.” 

Hello, and welcome to my website. I’m a British poet, novelist and writing tutor. 

As well as my six books, my writing has appeared in a number of publications, including the Virago Book of Shopping, the Poetry of Sex (Penguin Books), Poetry London, the Financial Times, Psychologies magazine, and has been commissioned by BBC Radio 4.

I love teaching creative writing, and I’m so passionate about words that in 2018, I did a TEDx Talk - in praise of everyday words.

I’m a Hawthornden Fellow, former Canterbury Laureate, and have twice been awarded international residential Fellowships from Virginia Center for Culture and Arts in the US. I’ve taught in Universities for many years, and as the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science for three years, I supported students and staff with their academic writing. I currently run a long-standing Reading Group in Kent.

In addition to Twitter and Instagram, you can also find me on Substack and at Writer in the Garden.