I am a writer and researcher, with a particular expertise in the literature, culture and history of the nuclear age. After a long career in higher education, during which I established an international reputation for my research into the literature and cultural history of the nuclear age, I now work as a freelance writer and researcher, pursuing creative opportunities as well as research interests.

My most recent book, co-edited with Sarah Jackson, is Bunker: Stories and Poems From a Nuclear Age (Five Leaves), the outcome of a workshop in which we took acclaimed writers and experts into Nottingham’s abandoned government nuclear bunker. My previous books on nuclear topics, States of Suspense: The Nuclear Age, Postmodernism, and United States Fiction and Prose (Manchester University Press) and Late Cold War Literature and Culture: The Nuclear 1980s (Palgrave Macmillan), have been reviewed as ‘insightful,’ ‘cogent and compelling,’ ‘important and valuable,’ and a ‘brilliant analysis of North American literature during the Cold War.’ I am currently writing a book about the fiction, poetry, drama, films, television and music that tell the story of the creation of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos.

My short story ‘In Sure and Certain Hope’ won the East Midlands prize in the Aurora Writing Competition, and my story ’Surface Tension’ was highly commended in the Manchester Writing Competition. A full list of publications can be found on my website. 

I also work collaboratively with cultural, heritage and research organisations, giving talks, running workshops, and on a consultancy basis, and provide expert commentary to the media. Organisations with which I have worked include the UNESCO Creative Cities network, the Science Museum, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham Playhouse, Broadway cinema, Science Fiction Theatre, and the Los Alamos Historical Society,