Information About Richard - Stamford teacher

Personal Description:

I'm a former winner of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, in 2006 and 2007. Since then I've had a pamphlet published by tall-lighthouse press, a selection of poems in The Salt Anthology of Younger Poets, and some new work is about to come out in Poetry London. I spent April this year at the Villa Sarkia in Sysma, Finland, on a writers' residency working on a first novel, which culminated with a reading in Helsinki; I've also read at the South Bank Centre, the Poetry Cafe, and in Oxford, Newcastle and Torquay.

Teaching Experience:

In 2007 I started a poetry magazine with some friends and fellow winners of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award - we championed and edited the work of writers under 30, many of whom have gone on to have successful careers in the field. As such, I am used to paying close attention to detail in other people's written work.

This year I started The Scallop-Shell, a blog offering close-readings of contemporary poetry. If you want to see my methods for getting inside a text and exploring the creative choices the author has made, you can find it on **Web Address Removed**

Teaching Approach:

I won't try to turn your writing into my writing - I have a wide literary knowledge, and I'll suggest works you could look to for inspiration or for new perspectives on the ideas or concepts you want to convey. I'll pay close attention to rhythm, form and metre as well as to the nuts and bolts of language and the way you put it all together, and I'll try to give you the creative guidance you need to turn a good idea into a great poem or story.