My writing

I know it's a cliché, but I have always been a writer. My earliest career ambition was to be able to touch type like my primary school secretary, Mrs. Berry, and as soon as we had a computer at home I penned a dozen Jacqueline Wilson-esque novels that I printed out and forced onto my parents, teachers and family friends.
 

I like to write about family, identity and the concept of 'home', and often blur the lines between poetry and prose. Just before the pandemic I wrote a memoir called Bridie, Darling about my relationship with my amazing dad Patrick, who died in 2018. Then, in early 2023, I received DYCP funding from the Arts Council to work on translating some of my experiences into fiction, specifically for a young adult audience. The opening to this new, experimental manuscript won me the Northern Debut Awards for YA fiction at the Northern Writers Awards in June 2023 and I signed with my literary agent, Lucy Irvine, in December of the same year. ​​​

 

After a long road of editing, reworking and submitting to publishers, my YA novel, We Wait for the Stars, was published on July 2nd, 2026! It's written in verse and is a story of grief, joy and teenage firsts, set on the gorgeous North East coastline. ​​

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Writing Commissions

I have been lucky enough to be commissioned to write poems and short stories for a number of different organisations, including Changing Relations, Curious Arts, Hexham Book Festival, Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and Gateshead Council. I have put together writing programmes for places such as Kielder Observatory, and in 2024 I was the writer in residence at Grainger Market, which culminated in performances at Newcastle Poetry Festival at Northern Stage, and in the market itself (right next to the fishmongers!) as part of The Late Shows.

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You can find out more about these specific projects - and many more - on my portfolio page.

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