Richard was born in Southampton in 1952 and moved to Newbury eleven years later. He was a pupil at Park House School and then went on to Newbury College. He has worked in clerical and social work,jobs, most recently founding the Loose Ends Day Centre for the Homeless, at Newbury Baptist Church, where he is a member. He is married and lives at Turnpike. He suffers from M.E. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).

Richard is currently a member of  Time Spanner Projects, an association of musicians and artists based in West Berkshire, where he is in the process of setting up a writer's network.
He also works in partnership with Circle of Sound, who commissioned four new poems from him last year for the 'Timespan Project'

Richard's first book of poetry "Soft Bombs" has just been published.
(See below to order.)

If you would like to hear Richard reading the poem "Orphans" from Soft Bombs:
 

Click on Charles Dickens
 

Influences
 

Whilst studying for an English literature exam in the early 70's Richard was introduced to the work of Stephen Spender, which he found a great eye-opener as he was interested in writing political pieces.

He also found Philip Larkin and T.S.Eliot fascinating and for a while found them unconsciously leaking into what he wrote.

Other interesting and influential poets include Dylan Thomas's work for its overtly romantic, overblown quality, William Blake and Gerard Manley Hopkins and of the modern poets Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Wendy Cope and Carol Ann Duffy.

Click on Shakespeare for links to other poets.

To order a copy of Soft Bombs
click on the book cover:

Your order will be processed by The Family Bookshop, Thatcham.
(Orders taken World Wide)