Other Work & Projects

Copywriting/editing and content creation

As well as my own creative writing and art & photography projects, I’ve worked as a professional digital content creator for nearly 15 years, writing and editing course and other marketing copy, managing web content, and producing/editing videos and spotlights for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at ARU. You can watch some of the videos I’ve created below:

Podcasts

From 2020-2023 I made the ARU Spotlight podcast, a series of interviews exploring the educational experiences and career paths of staff, students and alumni at ARU. Here are a few that might be of interest to fellow creatives:

Professional screenwriter / novelist, and Screenwriting Senior Lecturer at ARU, talks about his BAFTA-winning Netflix horror film His House; how he was drawn to horror and history by the story of Beowulf and Grendel; and the importance of enthusiasm when teaching.

Professional photographer and Co-Course Leader for Photography at ARU, talks about the visual significance of black lives matter coverage; difficulties of critically analysing subjective expression, and a toolkit for the therapeutic use of photography.

Fashion Technical Officer at ARU talks about her work as Animatronic Model Designer on films including The Fifth Element and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; the importance of experimentation in creative projects; and how emerging digital technologies might affect costume design in the future.

Co-founder of award-winning small press publisher Sidekick Books and Creative Writing Lecturer at ARU. We discuss the relationship between poetry and games, the importance of communities in creative writing, and why ‘be yourself’ might not be very good advice.

Writing and Film student from Macon, Georgia, talks about how Doctor Who and fish and chips were key to his studying in England, and how Logan might be the best superhero film ever made.

Illustration Course Leader at ARU, talks about his journey as a practising illustrator; early experiments with a music career that got him into the indie dance Top 10; and how working as a freelance illustrator with New Scientist magazine opened him up to ideas he’d never considered before.

Music

Until 2010, I was a keen musician and singer/songwriter, creating several full length demos. My main influences were lo-fi/alternative/indie and progressive rock, particularly Stephen Malkmus / Pavement; Grandaddy / All Smiles / Jason Lytle; Calexico; Marillion; Yes; Mercury Rev; Depeche Mode; David Bowie and Duran Duran. You can listen to a few of my own favourite tracks below, or visit my Youtube channel for more.