Hello, I’m a British author and journalist based in Wales’ Black Mountains. I specialise in telling stories about threatened people, places and wildlife, with a particular focus on Central Asia and the mountainous areas of Northeast India. There’s nothing I love more than travelling alone in remote regions - talking to people, hearing their stories. These are the times when I feel most alive.

My latest book Land of the Dawn-Lit Mountains was published by Simon & Schuster in 2017. It was runner-up in the 2018 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards, with judge Phoebe Smith calling it ‘exquisitely written, with a strong sense of place and proper travel writing in the classic style.’ My agent is Imogen Pelham at Marjacq Scripts.

I write for The Guardian, The Financial Times and Geographical, to name a few, and have presented a number of documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, on subjects as diverse as snow leopards, the Black Mountains, the Vietnam War, Brian Eno, community conservation in Nagaland and traveller communities in the UK. For Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent I’ve reported from Laos, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, India and Myanmar. While my passion for travel is undimmed, since 2020 I’ve increasingly focused on stories about Indigenous rights, conservation, habitat loss and the Climate and Ecological Emergency, whilst always keeping in mind Susan Sontag’s advice: ‘Let the dedicated activist never overshadow the dedicated servant of literature - the matchless storyteller.’ I have this pinned above my desk as a constant reminder.

When I’m not travelling, writing, giving talks or wandering the Welsh hills, I also teach the odd writing course.

Over the last decade, I’ve been lucky enough to win awards and grants from The Royal Geographical Society, the Transglobe Expedition Trust and the Wilderness Awards. For these, I am extremely grateful.

Find out more about my stories and journeys here.