I was educated at two large rural comprehensives in the Midlands and then the West Country in the seventies.

I studied dance at Nottingham Trent Polytechnic, before a foundation year in Art a Cheltenham Art College. I went on to complete my degree at the Slade School of Fine Art studying painting (I still paint) under Stuart Brisley and alongside the film maker and artist Andrew Kötting.

In the year I graduated from The Slade my first play THE BOX was accepted and then won the New Playwrights Competition for BBC Radio 4, alongside Benjamin Zephaniah and Jeanette Winterson. It was published later that year.

My second play DUSTY'S STORY for BBC Audio Drama won the Prix Marulić, was later adapted by myself into a film, supported by the BFI and directed by Mina Courtauld. It was part of the London Film Festival in 1999. 

I then went on to study mime under Desmond Jones and then screenwriting on the MA at the London College of Printing with Phil Parker.

I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Sheffield Hallam University.

You may refer to my CV (below) for the writing career I then followed. 

It was not until my mid thirties that my Dyslexia was diagnosed and likewise, later still, that my ADHD was recognised. Understanding these two disabilities has been a revelation. They have worked for me and against me throughout my career. The dyslexia I believe creates a tangental and bright mind, but complexity can occur with linear thought - and much of the organisational structures of our world are linear. The ADHD has helped to create a large output ( I have written over eighty plays all of which have been produced, and I continue to paint) but it can also create a distracted and easily bored mind. This again can be challenging in social situations. But and it is a big BUT the plus for me with both of these disabilities in reference to creativity and output outweigh the disadvantages.

I also left city dwelling fourteen years ago and I am now based in the rural West Midlands. This quieter living has been enormously beneficial to my busy brain, providing calm, cold water swimming, and the time to develop my other great love which is music. I am part of a DJ collective in the region. 

I am also an activist, and a member of Amnesty International for many years. I have worked with refugees helping them to tell their stories and remain acutely aware of economic disparities both nationally and internationally. I am a supporter of Gay and LGBTQIA+ rights. I also remain an advocate for disability rights (having disability myself) and have created roles specifically for those with disability and specifically for LGBTQIA+, and other minorities throughout my career.