Biography

I was born on 24th April, 1965, in the Park Nursing Home, opposite the cricket oval, in Port of Spain Trinidad.

I went to school, from the age of thirteen, at St Maurs Convent, Weybridge, Surrey. After school I studied English at UEA in Norwich and then worked as a journalist in my twenties. In 1997, in my early thirties, I travelled to the Middle East, mostly living in Jerusalem, teaching English for The British Council.

On return, I worked for Amnesty International for a couple of years before doing an MA in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. Sun dog, my first novel, was published in 2002.

Since then, I’ve worked as a Centre Director for the Arvon Foundation, running Totleigh Barton

in Devon. I’ve lived in London since 2006, working for the Royal Literary Fund as Fellow for Sussex University and then Chichester University. I teach Creative Writing around London and for Skyros, Arvon and privately. Here and there, I also edit the odd book or anthology of short stories.

I was recently awarded a PhD in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, so now I’m Dr Roffey. I spend a lot of time at home writing, usually in my pyjamas.

Twenty Factoids

Star sign:

Taurus

Other star info:

Mars in Aries – making me impulsive

General disposition:

curmudgeonly when not being impulsive

Hair:

unruly

Body:

that of a writer. Hunched shoulders, poor eyesight, coffee breath, splayed arse

Other talents apart from writing:

shopping, sleeping, chatting, swimming

Favourite word:

'Battimamzelle', French Creole for dragonfly

Favourite restaurant:

Lahore Kebab House, Umberston Street, EC1.

Current rant:

grown men riding bikes on the pavement

Current bad habit:

yelling at grown men on bikes to get off the frigging pavement

Other bad habits:

reading other people’s newspapers over their shoulder on the tube

What I like to do in London:

coffee with friends on Goldborne Road on a Friday, followed by browsing the market

What else:

walking across Westminster Bridge at night towards the Houses of Parliament

Phobias:

heights, snakes, sharks

Prizes:

English 5th Form prize. Girl Guides Lifesavers Badge

Favourite city apart from London:

Jerusalem

Childhood literary influences:

Mad magazine, Phantom comics, Willard Price Adventure books, Nancy Drew, Playboy magazine

Adult literary influences:

Jean Rhys, Toni Morrison, John Steinbeck, Albert Camus, Simon de Beauvoir, Sylvia Plath, Cormac McCarthy

Favourite Book of all time:

The Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

Opening line most impressed by:

“I saw an arm fall off a man once.” A Spell of Winter, Helen Dunmore