About me

I am confident that my extensive marketing and communications background, coupled with my ability to multitask while consistently meeting deadlines and my experience writing in a range of styles for a range of audiences, will make me an ideal candidate for any position that requires strong writing. (Please note that I am a British citizen returning to the UK workforce after ten years living and working in the USA.)All of my professional work has made full use of my ability to convey complex and often technical concepts in clear, compelling prose. Most recently, at Carle Foundation Hospital, I found my laymanâ€(TM)s perspective to be a real asset as I created messaging for the general public on behalf of physicians, researchers and management. I researched and wrote numerous articles, websites, press releases and larger publications on a wide range of topics, to be read both by medical professionals and the public at large. In particular I served as the sole writer for Foundations, a high-quality internal communications magazine for Hospital staff – each month conducting interviews and research before writing multiple long-form stories to a tight deadline. I also worked on many cancer communications: for example, I wrote monthly ‘Directorâ€(TM)s Updateâ€(TM) letters, which conveyed news from the Mills Breast Cancer Institute to staff, referring physicians and the research community.At Hammacher Schlemmer, the oldest catalogue company in America, I was one of three copywriters marketing high-quality products that ranged from the more familiar (towels, watches, etc.) to the wildly innovative (the levitating hover scooter!) The company put out many catalogues every year, with new products being added to the rotation all the time, and I was charged with the task of reading and digesting the—often labyrinthine—product files and distilling each into a concise paragraph of compelling, seductive copy, maintaining the companyâ€(TM)s authoritative voice. My role at the University of Illinois Press had me once again juggling multiple projects under strict deadlines, but this time as the sole copywriter. The UIP puts out more than a hundred books a year, on a huge range of topics, and I was required quickly to familiarize myself with each book and its subject matter, before producing a persuasive and accessible block of jacket copy for it. I was able to call on my project management experience to keep track of dozens of copy blocks as they circulated, ensuring that the final version reflected the suggestions of all the various editors (not to mention the author of the book itself) and yet still maintained a unified and readable style. I took a few years out of the professional world when I became one of only four Fiction applicants (from a pool of several hundred) accepted into UIUCâ€(TM)s highly regarded MFA program in Creative Writing. During my time as a Graduate Student I taught classes in Fiction and in Business and Technical Writing, and relished the opportunity to teach future business grads how to communicate effectively (or, “Write Like a Human Being,” as I informally re-titled my class). Time management proved a critical skill, enabling me to stay on top of grading up to 48 assignments a week, while still producing my own creative work and giving close reads and critiques to the work of peers. I believe that the creativity I honed during this period will make me a real asset to your organization.In closing, I am a skilled writer, editor and lover of language, eager to put my communication abilities to work for an organisation that values strong writing. I am also a strong believer in the power of clear communication; as well as my regular duties at CITES, such as website maintenance and work with InDesign and Dreamweaver, I developed a presentation (which I have now given to a variety of audiences) on the topic of Plain Language and its importance for the IT sector and academia. I look forward to talking about my qualifications in more detail, and would be happy to send you samples of my work, should you require them.