Currently, I teach across MA Publishing and BA Creative Writing programmes. I also research and write about class and place in contemporary British literature and publishing. I am interested in the ways that relations of power in society are expressed in creative writing, and in finding new connections between literature and sociology.
Before becoming an academic, I worked in the literary industries for twenty years. I held editorial roles at Bloomsbury and Simon & Schuster, as well as providing freelance editorial and consultancy services for various trade publishers, literary agents and scouts, and writing development organisations. I have also been an events producer, programming and managing events for festivals nationally and internationally, and community arts and outreach projects in the Calder Valley where I live. The many strands of my portfolio career are united by a belief in inclusive access to the creative arts.
I hold a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from Northumbria University, where I previously worked as Associate Lecturer. My doctorate was undertaken in partnership with New Writing North and considered new aspects of working-class life in twenty-first-century British literature. I also hold an MLitt (Distinction) in English Literature and a BA (First Class) in English Language and Literature, both from Newcastle University.
My teaching takes an industry-inspired approach, bringing real-world learning and commercial experience of publishing and professional creative writing to the classroom. Currently, I teach on the following modules:
- Publishing Then and Now
- The Business of Publishing
- Practical Publishing
- Individual Publishing Project
- Writing to Order
My recent work on contemporary literature and class has focused on the ways that socio-economic and geographical inequalities can compound one another. I have been developing a research project on place-based literary prizes for work-in-progress, with the aim of understanding the impact of different kinds of support (like money, mentoring, or networking opportunities) for new and emerging writers in different areas of the UK.
