I grew up in a family of amazing artists who could create anything visually; paintings, sculpture, set building, clothing, miniatures. I was very jealous of my parents and my brother’s ability to take from their brains into reality. I began using words to paint the pictures for me.

I completed my undergrad at Aberystwyth University, in English Literature and Creative Writing. I started doing editing on the side during this time, working with some amazing people achieve their writing goals.

My journey took me back to the city I grew up in. I did my Master of Arts in Creative Writing at the University of Plymouth. This is where my love of studying science fiction began. Speculating how our society might look in the future is something every academic undertakes in their own way.

During this time, I founded the Start Somewhere Project. This is a blog where I interview artists of different disciplines about how they started and what drives their passion.

This was created to inspire the next generation of artists, to encourage people pursuing your dreams can begin anywhere. Additionally, I provide established artists space to recollect on their journey and to appreciate how far they have come.

During 2020, I joined a company called Creative Culture South West. The company focuses on providing access to the arts to people who might otherwise struggle, financially and geographically. First I joined as a creative writing tutor and then as Director of Publishing. As a tutor I ran classes on how to construct and workshop short stories of any genre. I also constructed a class on world building for fantasy and science fiction novels. As Director of Publishing I organised a short story competition. I then worked with the successful 12 winning authors of this competition to edit their short stories to publishing quality.

Following my experience in Plymouth, I decided to pursue this love of imagination and academia. I am now reading for a Doctorate of Fine Arts at the University of Glasgow, in Creative Writing again. My focus is on artificial intelligence and how we might develop this technology in an ethical and compassionate way.

This year, through a very unusual turn of circumstances, I have found a community of incredible writers in the UK. We are all marginalised, whether global majority, through disability, neurodiversity, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, or socio-economically deprived. Together we’ve made a safe space to share our writing, and I’m floored by the talents of each of them. Through their kindness and support I finally felt confident to do what I have always wanted to – going fully freelance as an editor.