Cy Forrest is a genetically modified northerner living in the south-west of England, loving cider and supporting Manchester United. The last two aren’t going to happen. He is, however, a regular visitor to Dorset where his forthcoming novel is set.

He signed up for a one year MA at Goldsmith’s, University of London. On the MA, Booker prize winner James Kelman (How Late It Was, How Late, Dirt Road) inspired him with his ideas about narrative and the vernacular.

Story sales: Mondays Are Murder (Akashic), Big Pulp, Transmission, The Front View and others.

Poems published: The North, Iota, Seam and Blade amongst others. Prizes in the Yorkshire, Dulwich, Exeter and Berkshire competitions: What You Will See (Gatto, 2006)

Favourite writers: Magnus Mills, Franzen, Eugenides, Munro, Carver, Kelman and Self.

Novel #3: The Punished – Crooked Cat Books (September 13th 2017).

Novel #2: Stop the World, I Want to Get On (Authonomy closed Sept 2015).

Novel #1: Tony Blair: The Wilderness Years (Createspace, 2005).