• Five key lessons about S.E. Hinton’s ‘The Outsiders’ and publishing

    This article explores how and why outsiders, in the form of writers, readers and texts, came to shape the publishing industry, particularly Young Adult novels.

  • Will Labour’s policy of adding VAT to private school fees improve educational standards?

    This blog post briefly explores the benefits of reducing spending upon private education and boosting spending on public education. It includes an interview I did on LBC’s Iain Dale programme, December 2024.

  • Entering Viola’s Room: four key lessons I’ve learnt from Punchdrunk’s Immersive Theatre

    An article which explores 4 key things I’ve learnt from experiencing Punchdrunk’s Immersive Theatre events.

  • Four ways ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is therapeutic — and two ways it is not!

    This blog post explores the therapeutic effects of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, and its non-therapeutic effects as well.

  • Two reasons why school trips go wrong

    This blog explores the issues involved with school trips, considering the reasons why problems happen. It follows an interview I did about the matter on Talk TV, December 2024.

  • Towards boundary crossing: primary and secondary school teachers teaching creative writing and its redrafting

    This academic article, written by Professor Tom Dobson and I, explores the research we did looking at primary and secondary school teachers attitudes towards creative writing and redrafting. This is a rare piece of research which compares primary and secondary school teachers’ approaches to teaching creative writing. It shows that primary school teachers can be…

  • Teaching and Researching Creative Writing

    This page is devoted to ideas, images and articles which will help writers become teachers and researchers of creative writing. The argument is that all writers are teachers and researchers because writers have to teach themselves how to write constantly; they are continually goading and motivating themselves to write, teaching themselves how to write in…

  • Educational blogs

    Here you can find a list of some of the educational blogs that I have created during my career. Creative Writing and Education Creativity for all! 2016-17 Spinoza and the Joy of Learning How Spinoza can help us love learning 2017 Beyond the sheets: Goldsmiths’ conference Sexualities in the Age of Digital Reproduction: A one-day…

  • Articles

    Latest articles

  • The British Library, research and creative writing

    Creative writing can be used to help people engage with the British Library and its collection. MA students led members of the public through the Library, inviting creative responses to its archive and exhibitions.

  • Teaching English

    featured article free audiobook Best practices Reading pedagogies How reading can be best taught by English teachers. Writing pedagogies Writing can be a great learning tool, not a burden for teachers.

  • What can the opera ‘Carmen’ teach us about domestic violence?

    A blog written for my publishers, Blue Door Press, which explores how and why the opera ‘Carmen’ can be seen as a critique of violence and masculinity.

  • Homepage

    I have a few different public identities, which this website embraces. Read more about my background and work in these areas. On this site I publish new writing and research, but it also functions as an archive, providing easy access to articles published over the last 20 years, sometimes with annotations in cases where my…

  • Four reasons there is a Connected Curriculum at Goldsmiths

    Why bring all the students at a university together to learn critical thinking and research skills?

  • Why are three in ten teachers bringing in food for hungry pupils?

    58% of households in the bottom fifth of incomes have cut down on or skipped meals, or gone hungry because there was not enough money for food. That is 3.4 million households. Poverty-stricken households would form one of the biggest cities in the UK.

  • Inspiring Creative Writing and Learning: Multidisciplinary Approaches

    How and why creative writing can be improved by a multidisciplinary approach including freewriting, drawing and art, writing letters to different audiences (even imaginary ones)

  • Parklife Project: Students’ Creative Advocacy for Local Parks

    This article explores the research primary school pupils carried out in order to improve their local park in east London. It shows how they produced creative outputs such as pictures, models and poems which enabled them to both research their local park and advocate for change.

  • Four reasons we should all learn about Green Careers (+ some top job hunting tips!)

    A recount of the Green Careers event that I co-ran (with Widening Participation, the Horniman Museum, and Lewisham’s Young People’s Climate Network) in May 2024 at Goldsmiths University.

  • Of Note- Four Ways Taking Notes have Enriched My Life

    Notes have helped me remember; they’re my safe space; they’re therapeutic; and they’ve liberated my imagination

  • Freeing Creative Voice

    An anthology investigating how educators, creatives, and learners can liberate and uplift their voices through writing, teaching, investigating, and intentional everyday living.