About

I'm a native Bristolian who's never managed to get away for long. I write poetry (mostly), and enjoy walking about a bit with my border collie, Cwtch. 

With Colin Brown, former Director of Poetry Can, I am co-founder of the Leaping Word poetry consultancy, offering mentoring, editorial advice and support to poets, educational establishments and community groups. We also offer a professional counselling service to writers and artists engaging with personal experience in their work. See our website for how we can help you.

My poems have been widely published and have won several prizes, including runner-up in the 2022 Buzzwords Poetry competition, and winner of the 2018 Plough Prize Short Poem Competition, 2016 Wells Festival of Literature Hilly Cansdale Prize, 2013 Gloucestershire Poetry Prize,  2012 Pre-Raphaelite Society Prize, 2011 Dor Kemmyn Poetry Competition, and the 2010 Wells International Poetry Competition. They have been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2023.  

I have an MA in Creative Writing from the Manchester Writing School, and six collections of poetry: Communion (2011), Map Reading For Beginners (2014), Breadcrumbs (2016), The Shadow Factory (2019), Learning Finity (2022), and Love the Albatross (2024), all published by Indigo Dreams. My novel, Dart, about life on Dartmoor during the Black Death, was published under their Tamar Books imprint in 2013.

Photo by Alexander Turner for The Guardian

As well as my personal writing and poetry readings, I am a member of the IsamBards, four Bristol-based poets who write site-specific poems and conduct poetry walks around the locality.