I hold a BA (First Class) in English in the School of Cultural and Community Studies from the University of Sussex; an MA (Distinction) in Cultural Studies from the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham; an MA (Distinction) in Creative Writing and PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University.
I have previously taught Literature, Critical and Cultural Theory and Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham, the University of Derby and the Open University.
I teach on modules:
- Writing to Order
- Varieties of Writing
- Prose
- Writing Reality
- MA in Creative Writing
I am currently working on a memoir/history hybrid, Ghosts on the Hill, and an academic article about the Moors murders and the poetics of working-class decency, both based on my PhD research into the Moors murders. I am also researching a short story collection, From Peterloo to Primark, which aims to use fiction to provide an historical imaginary map of Manchester.
My other research interests include: creative non-fiction and the borders between fiction and non-fiction; photography and (particularly women's) embodied identity; popular culture; archival research and memory.
