Born in 1969. First four years spent living by the side of various roads in a Gypsy caravan, the rest of my childhood in a commune in Norfolk. Educated at Durham University (Arabic and Spanish) and Institut Français d’Études Arabes, Damascus. Various diverse employments include: docker, chocolate factory operative, Macmillan CD-Rom Publishing (RIP), Bookseller (at Blackwell's, Charing Cross (RIP), 1997-8), Office wallah at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and matelot and tour guide on Scottish Highlander (yes, that's me scrubbing the decks). Left London in 2001 for Wales to begin an MA in Creative Writing. Wrote and edited books on living, working and travelling abroad for Vacation Work Publications (RIP). Moved to the West Highlands in 2005. Left in 2007. Travelled a lot: 1986-1991, 2008-2013.
I've sailed over 40,000 sea miles on long-distance, worldwide yacht deliveries (including along ‘Pirate Alley’ in the Indian Ocean, and five interminable weeks in a 42ft yacht in the ‘Roaring Forties’ of the Southern Ocean). From 2008-2015 I worked off and on as a Relief Centre Manager at Tŷ Newydd, The Writers’ Centre for Wales.
Chronically peripatetic in the past, I am now trying to settle down.
I've sailed over 40,000 sea miles on long-distance, worldwide yacht deliveries (including along ‘Pirate Alley’ in the Indian Ocean, and five interminable weeks in a 42ft yacht in the ‘Roaring Forties’ of the Southern Ocean). From 2008-2015 I worked off and on as a Relief Centre Manager at Tŷ Newydd, The Writers’ Centre for Wales.
Chronically peripatetic in the past, I am now trying to settle down.
Island photo by Dan B.