I graduated from King’s College, London with an English degree and MA in 19th Century Literature. I followed this love of plot to work in feature film production before seeing the light and pursuing writing full-time. I attained a distinction from the UEA Creative Writing MA. My PhD project is focused on the world of boxing, a novel set in the 1950s and a critical work that will consider the connections between boxing and the construction of a narrative. I was going to write this novel anyway but I am really looking forward to doing it in the context of the PhD, the chance to discuss work with other writers, and to making the researches and reflective processes visible. I recently used my baseline funding to develop my short story writing skills by attending a Faber Academy weekend course and was subsequently fortunate enough to win the Bristol Short Story Prize 2011.
I studied English Literature followed by a PGCE. After teaching English I moved to Vienna and worked as an editor for an international organization. I became Austria correspondent for the ‘Irish Times’, writing about arts and politics.
I have also lived in Asia, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland and Russia, where I worked for the ‘Moscow Times’. After bringing up two children, I decided to develop my lifelong interest in creative writing. I joined a writers’ group in Moscow and completed an advanced fiction course by distance learning with the Open College of the Arts. This gave me the background and confidence to apply for the MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. I now have a full-time PhD studentship with the Open University and am writing a novel set in 1960s Ireland. The funding has enabled me to carry out research in Ireland and attend the Yeats Summer School and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. In the summer of 2011, I was awarded a writer's residency at the Heinrich Böll cottage on Achill Island.
My supervisors at the OU have encouraged me to step beyond my comfort zone, to use different voices and examine how skilful use of point of view is an integral part of moving the plot forward. It has been a challenging time and illuminating. Thanks to the research degree I am growing in scope and confidence as a writer.
I began my first novel as part of an MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster University, (Magdeburg, published in 2010 by Lagan Press), so when it came to thinking about my next project – an historical novel set in late 17th Century Edinburgh – it seemed like a good idea to develop it into a PhD proposal.
As a writer of prose fiction, I’ve always felt a certain pressure to think about the commercial viability of my work: the PhD has been a welcome opportunity to put those sorts of considerations to the back of my mind. It’s been a way of giving myself space to focus on the work itself, and to better understand my own process.
One of the great things about the PhD is that I suddenly have access to all sorts of interesting events. For example, I’ve been along to a study day at the British Library aimed at helping new research students get to grips with the collections there. I’ve also presented a paper at the Great Writing conference organised by Bangor University, and was part of a panel for the 2010 NAWE (National Association of Writers in Education) conference, alongside my supervisors.
I studied English at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia (MA: distinction). Following graduation from UEA in 2004, I have combined teaching with writing, and have worked for various British and US universities, including the OU, City University and New York University in London. My writing career has provided me with rich and varied opportunities, from writing fellowships in New York and Armenia to running workshops in East London schools.
I have won various prizes for my writing (including an Arts Council Award and a Royal Literary Fund Bursary) and have been shortlisted for various others (including The Asham Award, International Fish and Wasafiri Prize). My short fiction has been published in literary magazines in the UK, USA and Ireland.
My practice-based PhD at the OU will provide me with a privileged opportunity for professional development - both as a writer and as a teacher. I am looking forward to working on inter-related fiction and non-fiction pieces. My research will centre on first-person narratives from the perspectives of characters with learning disabilities, thus allowing me to combine two of my great passions: creative writing and disability rights.