 His work for radio includes 'A Fearful Symmetry' – for Radio 4 – which won the Sandford St Martin Prize, 'Soldiers in the Sun' – for Radio 3 – which won the Clarion Award, and 'Last Words' commissioned by Radio 4 to mark the first anniversary of 9/11.His first novel, "Patrick's Alphabet", was published by Jonathan Cape in 2006, and his second, "Breath", in 2008.He is Professor of Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University and a trustee of the Arvon Foundation.