Nicola has a double first class honours degree in English Literature and Drama from the University of Winchester, and a PGCE from the University of Southampton. She went on to train in physical theatre and commedia dell’ arte in Italy. Her research on Neapolitan physical theatre was published in New Theatre Quarterly (Cambridge University Press). She has been a teacher of English and Drama, including creative writing classes, for over twenty years, and has taught in secondary school, sixth form, further and higher educational settings. In 2012 she set up the theatre company, Carnival of Objects for which she has been a writer, mask and puppet maker, actor and director. Nicola has written plays for both professional and educational theatre productions and is currently writing a novel inspired by her time living in Italy.

Nicola is thrilled to be working as the Creative Writing Tutor at The Theatre, Chipping Norton, as it brings together her love for writing and theatre. She feels that encouraging others on their creative journeys, as they develop their writing craft and share their literary successes, is both an inspiration and a privilege.