Writing

I have written several pamphlets and four full collections of poetry. I started writing poems when I was about 8 years old and started performing them when I was in my early twenties. I have read at and put on loads of events over the last 20 years. I also blog and write copy for websites- let me know if you are looking for someone to write you some reliable copy.

Teaching & Mentoring

I have taught on the subjects of experimental and nonsense poetry. I have also run courses on world building, sound poetry and ‘Hyperspectacle’- a really fun look at writing in illicit spaces both online and off. I have mentored several writers, helping them to put together collections of poetry. I am available to critique work .

Social Media Coaching

Working as a Social Media Manager for the last ten years has made me aware that often individuals struggle to come up with interesting, creative content for their social media channels. I have done one-on-one consultation with people who feel unsure of which direction to take their marketing, or who feel a little shy to ‘sell themselves’ or their business. I also run workshops showing people some neat shortcuts for regular posting.

Kennings in the Community

Kennings in the Community is a resource for teachers, poets and any interested members of the public who want to learn about the scope for the use of kennings as a stimulus for poetic creativity. I ran workshops and set up events and also started up the blog ‘Life Oh Life’ to showcase the versatility of the device.

Frankenstein Exhibition

The Frankenstein exhibition at the Espacio Gallery marked the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s famous novel. I collaborated with Daniel Munday and made a sound poem that focused on the life of Mary Shelley. It was really loud and quite annoying.

Bird Box Stories

As part of the E17 Art Trail my friend Elizabeth and I created an interactive experience by allocating a series of location-specific bird boxes containing notebooks and pens. The notebooks contained the beginning of a story- the resulting additions were magic and brilliant.

Storytelling Nights

I put on a number of themed storytelling nights at my local community centre and invited people to read their favourite stories. We had wine and music and decorated the whole room with fairy lights. It was such a simple and fun idea.

Young Pines

A group of designers, illustrators and writers I was part of that produced ‘The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife’, a book and exhibition of sexually explicit prose, poetry and illustration which used mythology and fairy tales as a starting point. I also collaborated with musicians and a storyteller to create ‘True Confessions’, a series of daft repurposed stories which played during the exhibition.

Remixed Borders

As part of the Open Garden Squares Weekend in London I was the resident poet at Canary Wharf’s Crossrail Place Roof Garden. I wrote ‘Twitter poems’ based on peoples first memories. I really enjoyed hearing everyone’s stories, and the garden itself is pretty science fiction.

Zines

I have made several physical zines and magazines. I also collated poems written on a course at the Poetry School which looked at why some people find poetry boring. Through a series of writing experiments we came up with some poems that aren’t even a little bit boring.

Hive Collective

I was one of the founding members of Hive Collective- a network for creatives in East London. Although primarily a business network, our aim was to explore the psychological aspects of working for yourself and how to overcome limiting beliefs such as imposter syndrome and low self-esteem.

The Poetics of the Archive

Creating a response to the Bloodaxe poetry archive. I went to some really interesting workshops and carried out research within the archive. I also thought a lot about the issues that surround archiving such as how best to organise information both physically and digitally.

Object Mother

A memory box clear out, one magic item at a time. Why is an image less powerful than an object? I documented every item and chucked it out. Still in progress ( you can see the project here).

Eight Legged Nature Trail

Teaching children and adults about poetry and illustration with my friend Erica. We set up a nature walk on Walthamstow marshes and wrote illustrated poems about the plants and animals we saw.

Disturbing the Monomyth

An experimental workshop in which we looked at ways to develop the self through creative writing. Using fun exercises and writing prompts we considered how the stories you tell yourself can both empower and disempower you, and explored the benefits of constructing a personal narrative that more accurately reflects your reality.

Mall Poet

In 2016 I wrote a poem a day at Walthamstow Mall. The year brought turmoil in the form of Brexit and what started as a fun project to get me out of the house every day ended up as a record of a particularly tumultuous year. The poems were published by zimZalla in my book ‘Waves on a Boring Beach’.

Unicorn Hoax

My poetry blog where I try stuff out. Lots of it is a load of rubbish but I like it being online as it’s easy for me to access. Many of the poems have ended up in my books. There is also some stuff about unicorns and Prog Rock.

Plant & Ghost

My personal blog where I post about twice a year. Often I will save up a lot of emotions and then feel the need to write them down all at once. The title comes from a quote from Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche:

“Even the wisest among you is only a conflict and hybrid of plant and ghost.”

Koestler Awards

The Koestler Awards is an annual scheme engaging people in secure settings with the arts. I helped to read and respond to the large number of poems entered into the awards, and narrowed down the entries before judging.

OrganicLea

As well as completing a City & Guilds level 1 course in Horticulture I also helped out at Hawkswood Nursery where I met loads of interesting people. I also took an introductory course in Permaculture.

Ministry of Stories

I helped children to write stories and use their imaginations in new ways which was really fun. I worked with both SEN and ESL children. Have a look at the good work they do here.