When I was teaching, the words on the wall above the board in my classroom made no secret of my agenda – ‘Language is power’.  Foremost in my teaching came a message that our experience of the world is formed and shaped by the words we choose, and a close second came creating an environment comfortable enough for children to pause, think, to take the risk, to stretch a bit further and to reach, and reach. Underneath the board Seamus Heaney’s final words were pinned: ‘Noli Timere’, in 750pt Ariel Black. While my pupils could make the hairs on the back of my forearm stand up with the spontaneity and vitality of their writing, I knew I lacked their courage. I was holding back. I wanted to write, but I was paddling in the shallows. Shouting encouragement from the shoreline was one thing but jumping in myself was quite another.

Heaney’s words finally hit me in the end. With my youngest children about to leave school and my husband’s job taking us to a new city, it was now or never. And so, I jumped. I gave up a job I loved to pursue my writing.

Originally from Scotland, I now live in the south of England. I have a first degree in English from Oxford University and an MFA in Creative Writing.

I have written a collection of poems for children called Wonder Child and recently finished my first novel, Visitation. My memoir, Pilgrim, an account of my 900km pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, was published in late 2021. My work has appeared in Molecule Tiny Lit Mag, The Crank, Oddity magazine, Coin Operated Press’s poetry zine and Scotland Outdoors. I have been shortlisted for the Soutar, and Fish prizes and was Highly Commended in the Wells International Festival of Literature for her poem, The Shadow Butterfly https://www.wellsfestivalofliterature.org.uk/2021-open-poetry/. I was a panellist at the Guildford new Writers Festival, 2020, where I read an extract from Pilgrim. I have spoken on BBC Radio Surrey about the benefits of reading during lockdown and runs creative writing workshops in schools.

I am married with three grown-up children and I am currently fighting a losing battle to gain control over my unruly garden and Bernard, my rambunctious puppy.