I got my start in journalism when I was still in my first year of secondary school. A place in the Early Times “press gang” gave me the chance to review books, cover the Carnegie/Greenaway awards, interview the leader of Plaid Cymru and visit a leech farm.
After graduating from Oxford with a degree in English, I took a journalism master’s degree at Cardiff University in order to develop my research skills and learn more about the theory of journalism.
Since then I’ve built up an eclectic portfolio of features, news writing and reviews, much of which can be found on this site.
I’m also a pioneer in the misunderstood and underrated field of community journalism. My two-year stint as editor and chief writer of the Oxford community newspaper Leys News has given me a strong interest in this area. I’m currently writing a training manual for other community journalists and occasionally blogging about relevant issues.
Experience
Features
Big Issue Cymru: mainly arts features but also wrote articles on other topics, including homelessness, sport for the blind and Welsh bardic culture. Interviewed actress Samantha Bond and novelist Iris Gower.
Newsquest Oxfordshire: work in the magazines and supplements team meant writing features on property, health, finance, education and many other topics for the company’s many titles. Also wrote a whole tourist guide to Oxford which has been published by Newsquest.
Leys News: during my time as editor and chief writer wrote features on a range of topics, from serious articles about personal finance to light-hearted quizzes. Recurring topics included adult education, the arts and the environment. Still writing features for Leys News on an occasional basis.
News
Leys News: local news reporting (covering community events, local government reporting, crime reporting, etc). Also occasionally covered national stories with relevance to local people. Updated the Leys News website regularly to keep people up to date with forthcoming events.
Newsquest Oxfordshire: although I wasn’t a news reporter, occasionally a good news story would fall into my lap and I would write it up for one of Newsquest’s regional papers.
Other: freelance news writing for BULB and Dogmanet.
Reviews
- Oxfordbands.com: currently contribute reviews of live music as well as demos.
- Big Issue Cymru: regularly reviewed books, plays, comedy, art and music.
- Leys News: wrote theatre and art reviews for arts page every issue.
- Newsquest Oxfordshire: wrote occasional theatre reviews for the Oxford Mail and Oxford Times.
- Other: reviewed gigs for self-edited music fanzine at university; also wrote music reviews for BULB.
