I’m a writer, researcher and lecturer. My interest is in women’s social, cultural and political histories. 

 

My book Out of the Darkness: Greenham Voices 1981 – 2000 will be published by The History Press in September 2021. The book explores the history of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp and centres on long-form interviews with over one hundred Greenham women. The book is based on eighteen months of research, generously funded by The Heritage Lottery, and is co-written with writer and activist, Rebecca Mordan.

 

I'm particularly fascinated by women's lives during conflict, and women's specific methods of psychological survival and political protest during turbulent times in history. My coming-of-age novel is set at the onset of the First World War and depicts the lives of two women at opposite ends of the class spectrum, whose connection inspires their political awakening. The novel won the Pat Kavanagh Award at Goldsmiths University of London, and is currently out on submission.

I have previously worked as a professional playwright, mainly creating novel-to-stage adaptations. My work has been produced in the UK and America, where I was an artist-in-residence at The University of South Florida. Having been a recipient of The Arvon/Jerwood Foundation’s Mentorship Award, which granted me a year’s mentorship from Rebecca Lenkiewicz, I’ve written for a variety of theatre companies on varied briefs – sometimes adapting hefty Victorian novels, sometimes writing political satire for the Edinburgh Festival circuit. I have also written two historical plays: The Tenth Box is an exploration of the life of Helen Duncan, a psychic who, in 1944, became the last person in the UK to be imprisoned for Witchcraft; Black Maria examines the trial of Mary Ann Cotton, who was convicted of serial murder in 1873 in one of the most infamous and dubious trials of the Victorian period.

 

I studied acting at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, later reading English Literature for my degree, and then completing a Masters degree in Creative Writing at Goldsmiths University of London. 
 

As a feminist activist, I’ve contributed to a variety of campaigns which aim to create a better world for women and girls, including working with grassroots groups on single-issue campaigns. In 2015, I founded The Heroine Collective, a publication which documents the lives of women who contribute to socio-political change.

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