What was your background before coming to UEA?
Before studying Creative Writing at The University of East Anglia I grew up in Peterborough and did a first degree in Archaeology at the University of Newcastle which was in large part due to the city's reputation for nightlife and because Archaeology came quite early in the prospectus. Almost needless to say, I left in my second year and before I knew it I was back working for a pittance on checkouts at Asda, then in the storeroom at Boots, in my home town's mean city centre.

What prompted you come to UEA?
In my earlier years the only thing I ever stuck at or did consistently was writing creatively. After leaving Newcastle and spending a period scraping around aimlessly in Eastern France, then London, then back in Peterborough, I realised I was going nowhere fast, so I decided to have another shot - despite the introduction, in the meantime, of tuition fees and the abolition of grants. I also plucked up the courage to show a few stories and poems to some friends and family members whose opinions I respected. They told me they thought I had talent, so I decided I'd try to get into UEA, because of its huge reputation for Creative Writing. To my surprise, I was accepted onto a BA in English & American Literature after my old English teacher kindly wrote me a letter in support of my application. I saved some money, arranged a huge overdraft, got student-loaned up to my eyeballs and came to Norwich.

What did the BA at UEA teach you?
The second chance was the kick up the bum I needed. UEA taught me that – fortune permitting - you generally get out what you put in. I worked hard and got a first, but also allowed time to relax and play. I realised that extra-curricular work is just as important as the course itself, so I edited The Event magazine for the student newspaper Concrete and set up my own little literary fanzine/pamphlet. I took creative writing modules and got together enough of a portfolio to apply for the prose and poetry Creative Writing MAs, for which, luckily, I was accepted. My place on the prose course was deferred so I chose to do the poetry course rather than wait around for a year! I also think writing poetry is harder and teaches you more about language. Without an AHRC grant, though, I wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Who taught you while you were here?
Denise [Riley] and George [Szirtes]. They have very different but very complementary approaches. I learned a huge amount from them. My writing, such that it is, is a lot better than it otherwise would be, and continues to improve with their input.

How was that teaching structured?
We submitted poems ahead of group workshops each week. Students and tutor alike (George in the first semester, Denise in the second) then piled in to offer advice or opinions about what worked and what didn't. With all these often-conflicting judgements, your own voice, style, strengths and weaknesses become clearer through airing your own agreements and disagreements – but you have to be listening. It also helps you get out of bad habits or common mistakes very quickly. Alongside this core of workshops and creative writing, I took a couple of other modules including one on poetics, taught by Denise and Jon Cook, which was extremely useful and enlightening. The option to pick and choose other modules away from the core in this way strengthens the course and what you take away from it.

How would you describe your experience on the MA?
It was personally fraught, but vital creatively speaking. The time and space it gives you to concentrate on trying to write well – whatever else is going on - is invaluable. It gives you the ability, for a short while, to justify spending time to concentrate on it, rather than having to, or trying to, make a living.

Writing-wise, what were you working on at the time, and what have you been doing since?
I'm currently working – slowly - on completing a first collection and have a novel and a sort-of-memoir on the backburner. I'm considering some other non-fiction projects also but I'm currently a bit too busy!

So what happened next for you, following the MA?
With the DTP skills I learned during my time at the uni paper, I put together a literary anthology to raise money for charity, which I published through Egg Box during my MA. Since then, I've brought in a year's funding through an Arts Council grant and now run the company as its Managing Editor. Actually, we will be publishing the first collection of another UEA poet – Ben Borek's Donjong Heights: out soon! We will also be helping to develop a new creative writing anthology for UEA. In addition, I work as a Programme Manager for The New Writing Partnership - I started by stuffing envelopes for a few extra pounds during my MA. And I'm now also part of SSYK – a poetry, art and music collective based here in Norwich and in London – I helped with their funding application and the production of their second anthology.

How are you managing to continue writing in the midst of all this activity?
I'm not really! Well, not much at the moment anyway. This can be very frustrating, it's true, but I am enjoying the variety of other projects I'm involved with - and I have set up a slightly self-indulgent and madcap blog to help keep the engine running, if that counts? Studying at UEA has given me numerous other valuable opportunities, in addition to the insights I gained into the process of writing creatively, and I'm exploring them too. I know that I can go back to writing properly in future, when I have the time, space and inclination, and what I learned at UEA will stick with me.

What would you tell incoming students?
Put as much effort as you can into your year there, as it'll be over before you know it. There is a danger that you may feel you've ‘already made it' by getting to UEA and now you can just enjoy ‘being a writer'. But it's not that easy! The hard work is still only just starting. But, if you put the graft in, UEA is probably still the best place you could be to give a writing career a good start. It is important to look around you, though: there are a lot of opportunities for writers in Norwich – get involved with as much as you can. If at all possible, make sure you look further than the library, your seminars, and the grad bar.

Interview July 2007