I grew up in Cornwall, and went to Bodmin and Richard Lander comprehensive schools. After three years as a musician and care worker I moved to Bath to study for my BA in English Literature (with some modules in Creative Writing) (1st class), and then to London for my MA and PhD in literary/cultural studies (Birkbeck, University of London, finishing up in 2005). 

I went on to teach as a Visiting Lecturer in and around London and then Plymouth. I also became a Research Fellow at the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus on an AHRC-funded project 'Mysticism, Myth, and Celtic Nationalism' (2008-11). I then became a Lecturer at the University of Hull, before moving to the University of Roehampton in 2012 (on a two-year contract then made permanent). At Roehampton I became Principal Investigator on two further AHRC-funded projects, Memories of Fiction and Living Libraries (2014-20), and Head of Department of English & Creative Writing (2019-22). I became Professor of English Literature in 2019, and Emeritus Professor in 2022.

I then returned for the third time to Cornwall, where among other things I am working with libraries (as coordinator for SWRLS), and focusing on my creative writing, children, and gardening.