I was born in Lincolnshire, and studied and worked in York, Norwich, London and Oxford before moving to Glasgow in 2009.

I now work as a Professor of Publishing Studies and Director of the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication at the University of Stirling. I’m a judge for the Saltire Society Publisher of the Year Award and past judge for the Literary Awards, and previously worked at Hodder Headline publishers. My academic publications include Marketing Literature: the Making of Contemporary Writing in Britain and Philip Pullman: Master Storyteller. I regularly speak about publishing to audiences in Scotland and beyond, tweet from @stirpublishing and @clairesquires, and write Central Belt Shuffle, a blog of notes from a central belt commuter.

I am a Scottish Book Trust New Writer 2015. I’m currently working on my first YA novel, set in a city very loosely inspired by early twentieth century Glasgow.