Skills and experience
Nikki studied for her BA and MA at Roehampton University. Her dissertations focused on changing her writing practices, experimentation and the long poem. She grew up in inner city London and attended state school in Camden. Nikki has been in love with words since she wrote short stories in her scrapbook at primary school and discovered what a metaphor was.
Interviews:
Interview: Alex Pearl's website
Feature: Roehampton site
Interview: My journey from student to novelist
Streetcake magazine and prize:
Nikki is Managing Editor of streetcake magazine, which she started with Trini Decombe in 2008. streetcake publishes an online issue every 2-3 months and in 2019, launched the streetcake experimental writing prize for 18-30 year olds, supported by the Arts Council England. The prizes include mentoring from published writers, personalised feedback and developmental support, publication and book bundles.
Workshops:
-She has delivered experimental poetry workshops as part of the Stay at Home Festival (2020), the Stay at Home Fringe Festival (2020) and at Untitled Writing's Underrepped Writers' Festival (2020).
-She has delivered workshops linked with the streetcake experimental writing prize.
-She created the MumWrite development programme - a programme dedicated to mums who write experimental poetry/short fiction, involving workshops and editorial feedback.
-Nikki has acted as a Visiting Lecturer at Roehampton University.
Marketing:
Currently Marketing and Communications Manager for Age UK Westminster. In this role, I am responsible for their social media accounts, updating their website regularly, writing press releases, creating graphics to support campaigns, liaising with businesses and residents in the local community, sending out newsletters, and more. I have also worked with small businesses, such as East End Kids and Autism Unravelled, to help with their online presence, write copy for their websites, create newsletters, and support their business growth.
Published work:
Nikki's psychological thriller, Ellipsis, was published by Sparkling Books in 2010. Her chapbook, exits/origins, was published by Knives Forks and Spoons Press in 2010 and her collection, Hope Alt Delete, was also published by them in 2017. One of Nikki's poems was also featured in The Blackpool Illuminations 2016. Her novel, Volta, won the Virginia Prize 2020 and was published Aurora Metro in May 2021. She has a pamphlet about dementia with Beir Bua Press.
Awards:
-Novel, Volta, winner of the Virginia Prize 2020. Published in 2021.
-Shortlisted in the London Writers' Competition in 2003 for poetry.
-Won the Promise Prize for poetry in the London Writers' Competition 2005.
-Novel, Ellipsis, shortlisted for the Ideastap Inspires programme in 2014.
Memberships:
-Crime Writers' Association
-Society of Authors
Nikki has also worked as an EFL teacher and editor/proofreader. She has:
- Taught children and adults in Madrid and London
- Taught group and individual classes
- Taught exam, business, conversation and tailored classes
- Helped hundreds of students pass Cambridge exams
- Taught IELTS, Pet and Ket classes
- Edited and proofread thousands of documents on various subjects
- Assisted clients with achieving high grades in dissertations and essays
Skills:
- Editing and proofreading
- Strong project management
- Event planning and delivery
- Public readings and talks
- Communication and relationship management
- Strong attention to detail
- Good work ethic
- Designing and delivering classes and workshops
- A passion for development
- Funding application writing
Nikki has a background in publishing and editing. Past roles include:
- Production Manager of magazine supplements (2 years)
- School Programmes' Coordinator at Booktrust, for Booktime (1 year)
- Subscriptions Manager for The Wolf poetry magazine (1 year)
- e-book proofreader for Hachette (2 months)
- SYP Production Assistant and Commissioning Editor for In Print magazine (2 years)
