A life lived and recorded in ink since 1992.
This is not a portfolio. It is a record of a life, written down as it happened.
I’m James. I began writing at seventeen, in 1992. I had no grand plan, and I wasn’t trying to become a poet. I wanted to keep a record of my thoughts and feelings: a way of reflecting, making sense of things and understanding the person I was becoming.
I’ve never really stopped. What began as something private has grown into an archive spanning more than three decades: poems, observations, memories, experiments and occasional detours. Taken together, they form a picture of a life — and of the times in which it was lived.
The page behind the poem
The handwritten pages are not simply illustrations of the poems. They are part of the archive itself. They preserve the way the words first appeared: the handwriting, spelling, crossings-out, corrections, false starts and changes. You can see the work taking shape, rather than only the finished version.
Where the original survives, I pair its scan with a carefully prepared typed version. The typed poem is easier to read, and I may have corrected punctuation or grammar, but I keep the original page so that the two can be considered together. Neither replaces the other. I want you to be able to move between them — to peel back the paint and see the sketch underneath.
The original, and the edited version
Throughout the archive, the handwritten page and the typed poem offer two views of the same moment: one showing the writing as it was first put down, the other making it easier to read today. The edits are part of the process, not an attempt to erase the past.
Explore the poems from 1995 and see how the archive is arranged.
A life in chronological order
The archive is organised by year and month. You can follow it from the earliest surviving writing in 1992, move through the decades, or dip into a particular period. The dates — and the age I was when I wrote each piece — matter. They offer a little context, and invite you to read the words alongside the person who wrote them.
Some pieces will feel accomplished; others will be awkward, uncertain or unfinished in spirit. I don’t want to hide that. This isn’t a selected collection of only the best work. The quieter and less polished moments belong here too. They are part of the same life.
Where would you like to begin?
Start at the beginning: The earliest surviving writing — 1992.
Explore more recent work: Poems and writing from 2020 onwards.
Read the occasional reflections: Updates, thoughts and things.
You can also use the year and month archive navigation to find a particular point in the timeline. There is no prescribed route. You can start at the beginning, jump to the middle, or simply follow whatever catches your eye.
Why keep it all?
I’m sometimes surprised by what I’ve written. I can return to a page and wonder who I was thinking about, what had happened, or exactly how I felt. The handwriting brings me back to a moment, but the words can also show me how much has changed — and what hasn’t.
I don’t write to impress. I write to capture moments. Across years and decades, those moments become a story. The whole really is greater than the sum of its parts.
This is a life, written down.
Thank you for taking the time to look around, read something, and perhaps leave a comment. I hope you find something here that makes you pause, recognise something, or simply wonder about the person behind the words.
James