A queer writer drawn to the uncanny, the comical, and the beautifully bizarre, I grew up in a haunted house that still inspires me to write. I did my BA at Oxford, then moved to Boston, where I paid the bills as a box assembler and various other memorable gigs, and eventually became researcher and lecturer at Harvard. I completed my PhD there, on a full scholarship. Since returning to the UK, I’ve taught Creative Writing at Lancaster, held a Writing Fellowship at Chester, and now teach for the University of Hull and Comma Press. I sit on the editorial board of Best Small Fictions and co-founded Inkfish Magazine and Inkfish Press, where I also serve as editor.
My debut novel, The Monster’s Wife, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society’s Scottish First Book of the Year Award. My second, The American Girl, was published by William Morrow in the US and HarperCollins in the UK, translated into Korean by Tomato Publishing, and was also optioned for film. My flash fiction and short stories have recently appeared in SmokeLong Quarterly, The Cincinnati Review, Wigleaf, Flash Fiction Online, Vestal Review, and BULL. My work has been shortlisted for the Bridport and Oxford Flash Fiction Prizes, been Highly Commended in the 2026 Bath Flash Fiction Award, and won first place in the 2025 SmokeLong Quarterly Workshop Prize.