Aged 27 (human years), Ben Leto lives just a short walk from Karl Marx's giant head in Highgate, North London. As an English graduate of St Andrews University, he there benefited from both tutorials with the very encouraging Professor Douglas Dunn, and a lot of sea. He has had several poems printed, and previously co-wrote and produced a very successful show at the Edinburgh Festival. More recently he has collaborated with dANTE OR dIE theatre company on Caliper Boy.

Currently he is finishing a third attempt at a novel to torment and distress prospective publishers with, a collection of short stories on what a miserable and dyspeptic experience falling in love is, and trying not to think about next month's rent.

More to see and do at www.benleto.com/blog

My passion is ...

seeing things that make me go "ooh!" and writing about them

I know too much about ...

science fiction

My parents always told me ...

to shut up

My childhood ambition ...

Politician. Yes, politician. Not even Prime Minister, just politician. Ah, the folly of youth.

My favorite memory ...

Kingston 512MB 600MHZ DIMM

Why I write ...

The answer is somewhere between why drug addicts take drugs and why politicians lie.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

A Million Little Pieces/Heroes/Patrick Wolf

My first job ...

Barman. I was awful.

My best moment ...

Hasn't happened yet. I hope.

My inspiration ...

Childhood memories I no longer believe.

Creative Writing > Essays Essays: Why we write

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Writing is a waste of time.It's now been six months since I quit my former full time job in education. Though I don't miss the dizzying heights of Bloomsbury - the endless tedium of stuffing envelopes, telling cold sales callers to go away, or pretending to get excited about a new project that could send a woodlouse back into its crevice with a chronic depressive disorder - my former job did grant me one thing. A title. And, come to think about it, a secure and steady monthly income. But it's the title that I always think of first.If you're meeting someone for the first time they generally ...

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