I was born in Leicester, England, in 1961 and educated at Guthlaxton College, Wolverhampton Polytechnic, the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Norwich University of the Arts (NUA). I have a BA in Humanities and MAs in Creative Writing and Textile Culture.
I studied for my MA in Creative Writing at UEA where my tutors were Malcolm Bradbury and Angela Carter. I have written three books of fiction – Envy at The Cheese Handout, Gorgeous and Like Rabbits – and one of non-fiction, the memoir Iron Man, winner of The East Anglian Book Awards 2022. My stories have appeared in many anthologies, have been broadcast on Radio 4, and one – A Regular Thing – was made into an award-winning short film. My work has been translated into Danish, Italian, Mongolian and Spanish. I’ve taught creative writing to adults and children at – amongst others – NUA, The National Centre for Writing, The Arvon Foundation, and UEA . I’ve co-ordinated UEA’s summer school for teachers who teach creative writing, and from 2011 – 2018 was co-organiser of the literary organisation Words And Women which was awarded the Norfolk Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and was shortlisted twice for the Women In Publishing New Venture Award. I co-edited its anthologies of new writing, including the Words And Women Compendium (Singular Press, 2018) and Gullstones & Cuckoos (Unthank Books, 2016). I live in Norwich with my partner, the writer Andrew Cowan, and our dog Winnie.
With many thanks to Kate Bryan for the images on this website.