Novelist Tessa West originally trained as a teacher, and has worked extensively with young offenders and prisoners. She has written two novels, The Estuary (Fox Books, 2002) and The Reed Flute (Fox Books, 2004), as well as several non-fiction and text books. She has also published articles in newspapers including the TES and The Independent, and won the Essex Poetry Festival Competition in 2003. Tessa has been a Writer in Residence at the Time and Tide Museum and the Port Authority, Great Yarmouth, and is currently a board member of The Poetry Trust (formerly Aldeburgh Poetry Trust). She is represented by literary agent Isobel Dixon of Blake Friedmann.

Tessa will be leading one of the Story Trail workshops on June 18th, 2 - 4 pm, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.