When I was very young, I said that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, and I was told categorically not to be silly, ‘they have people who do that sort of thing.’ Subsequently, my professional work led me to focus on supporting and developing the creative practice of arts professionals, local communities and children by providing access to media, literature and performing Arts. I have a degree n Drama from Hull University and then trained as a dancer at The Place. When my knees hurt too much to continue dancing, I went to London Film School where I gained a distinction and won a major award as a writer and filmmaker.
I have worked as a Director in the Arts since 1990, first at The Place, London, where I was founder and Director of The Video Place, and then I devised and taught post graduate filmmaking courses, including an MA at The London School of Contemporary Dance.
I moved to Essex and developed media courses within the community as Director of Signals Media Arts and was then appointed Creative Director for a Creative Partnerships Programme by Arts Council England, East, which lasted for 6 years, until the programme concluded in September 2011.
During all of this time, I wrote consistently. However, the landscape of writing has shifted and I am looking at new ways to continue to support writers; exploring online publishing, blogs and websites which provide access, information and opportunity to all writers, for many different purposes, so that we may all become ‘the people who do that sort of thing.’
