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I'm a journalist and writer who has written for the Guardian, the Observer, Sunday Times, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Independent, Independent on Sunday, New Statesman, Granta.com, and Times Literary Supplement among others.

I have written dispatches from around the world including the Baluchestan desert, Bam and the Great Outback and travelled overland from

London to Sydney.

I've interviewed leading figures including Paddy Ashdown, Jonathan Dimbleby and Eartha Kitt.

In broadcasting I have appeared as a regular guest panellist and commentator on BBC shows including the Richard Bacon Show,

Simon Mayo Show and the World Tonight.

I've worked extensively as a critic, reviewing artists ranging from

Toni Morrison to Take That.

I've appeared at the Guardian Hay Festival, Oxfam Bookfest,

Folkestone Book Festival and Jonathan Cape Poetry Day.

My short stories and reportage have been published in several anthologies and I am recipient of a Penguin/decibel prize, Arts Council writing award and am currently completing a novel.

I was born in Manchester, UK and grew up in Old Trafford.

Throughout 2010 I'll be travelling around the world, researching and writing stories and dispatches and interviewing writers, artists, thinkers, and locals. I am recipient of a Travelling Fellowship awarded by the

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. You can follow my progress here and on Twitter. The map below charts my journey.

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