What I do for a living.
I write, present radio and tv programmes, give talks everywhere from women's institutes to corporate dinners, and run writing and storytelling workshops at all levels of education, from infant schools to universities.
I got made redundant from my job in a factory that made machines for the coalmines in 1987. I had been toying with the idea of trying to make a go of writing for a while before that. I wrote a book about Rugby League in my hometown and did some work collecting stories for community books published by Yorkshire Art Circus when I couldn’t sleep during the day after a night shift. I sent a couple of stories to Radio 4 and had them accepted, in fact I performed my own stories on a now defunct Radio 4 series called “First Person.” In 1989 I met a BBC TV director called Ray Hough and we made a half hour documentary for BBC Two in the Open Space series called “On earth to make the numbers up” it was about the work of the Yorkshire Art Circus. The Circus was the most progressive of all community arts companies, won many awards and worked in the visual arts, literature development, drama and community development. One of its founders Brian Lewis encouraged me to seek work as a freelance writer, he was a mentor from who I learned a lot about technique and approach. Two other art circus workers Rachel Van Riel who went on to found “Opening the Book” a consultancy to libraries and Reini Schuhle, who now assists the MP Yvette Cooper taught me about organisation and planning.
I learned a lot about teaching when I ran a creative writing course at Wakefield Prison every Thursday evening for three years. Then was mentored in the art of running workshops by the Opera and Theatre Director Stephen Langridge when I took on work for Opera North as a librettist. Gillian Moore who is now head of contemporary culture at the south bank centre encouraged me to blend my storytelling work with music composition and I took work with London Sinfonietta and The Royal Festival Hall.
I like to think of myself as a jobbing writer and have written drama, magazine and newspaper articles, books and performance pieces. My book “When push comes to shove” became the best selling book ever done on Rugby League and was highly commended in the Sunday Times sports book awards.
In the middle of the 1990’s I was asked to present television programmes for Yorkshire TV. I started on the early evening magazine programme “Tonight” alongside news journalist Christine Talbot and presented over 300 short films before being given my own half hour slots. I have presented five series of documentaries under the banner “My Yorkshire.” I have worked across Britain and in Europe and America for ITV.
I continue to write, run workshops, collaborate with musicians, broadcast on TV and radio and champion “outsider” art forms I have recently been asked to give a lot of talks and lectures.
My most recent book is called “Bringing it all back home” it’s published by the Pontefract based company Route who are making waves in contemporary northern literature. This book is an attempt to find a soundtrack to a real life story. It was long listed for the Pen Ackerly prize, an award given for literary biography and has been applauded by a lot of publications. Record Collector magazine said “One of the best books about popular music ever written.”
