I’m a writer, researcher, and educator, and I’m fascinated by anything that has to do with language, writing, culture, and society. Also: dogs!
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Words, words, words. I write creative non-fiction books, articles, and essays on anything and everything from snails in poetry to Romeo and Juliet emojis. On any given day, you can find me writing about something strange & arcane. If possible with an ink-drinking fountain pen on a paper notebook!
University researchers are super-learners: throw any question at us, and we’ll find you the answers (and sometimes obscure ones!), We know how to make sense of a confusing world. I’m a researcher of literature with a focus on the English Renaissance, here to tell you that Shakespeare did indeed write Shakespeare’s plays.
Researching and writing can sometimes get a little lonely, so I love it when I’m called away from the books to a live conversation. I’ve been a university supervisor, and a private tutor, and am now conceptualising and holding creative writing classes with focus on writing the self, and “book a researcher” style individual workshops on Renaissance culture. Only those who can, can teach!
I don’t have enough imagination to be a fiction writer! I prefer observing what’s around me – around us – and coaxing what I see to follow me onto the page where I re-arrange. I love inviting us to look with fresh eyes at what we already know, or think we know.
The catchy jingle, or the baroque one-page sentence: I like creating both the snappy and the stretched. My best writing relaxes into the capaciousness of essays, though. I need space for roaming and returning!
A brief postcard, a reflective essay, or a lively discussion: I love sculpting my work around the different needs (and opportunities!) of radio. The intimacy between voice and ear is more than a mere transmission of information. It’s tender magic.
Podcasts are the best way of learning for me: they’re low-key, chatty, and explorative, ready and willing to follow whatever happens to emerge from the speaker’s musings or conversations with guests. I enjoy featuring on podcasts as much as I love making my own.
