This term I’m at Durham University

This January until Easter 2023, I am resident at St John’s College, Durham, as the Ruth Etchells Visiting Fellow. I’ll be holding workshops and drop-in sessions, as well as one-to-one sessions on creative writing. My primary aim is to encourage self-belief and to enable students to trust their inner creative voice and not to ‘over-rationalise’ when working on their creative writing projects.

It’s always a privilege to read the work of others; there are thousands of imaginative worlds out there waiting to be discovered and the St John’s community is full of talent and potential. It’ll also be great fun to be back in Durham and to return to college life, re-connecting with old friends and making new ones.

Oh yes, and it is an excellent place and space to put in some quality time on my 3rd novel, which (no spoilers) is about a fundamentalist Christian cult in the northeast of Scotland, and the damage done by its charismatic leader to the community and to one family in particular.