Hello! My name is Dante. I'm originally from New Zealand. I have a PhD in Creative Writing and English from the University of Exeter, and many years of experience teaching English, Creative Writing, and Media.

As a scholar, my fields of expertise include English and creative writing, media theory, post-truth, philosophy of language, and the role of art. That's a lot of words... so some of the questions I'm fascinated with are: what's the point of studying literature? What does it mean to be saturated in media and how does it change the way we see the world? Is our language in trouble?

Beyond this, I absolutely love storytelling in all its forms, whether literature, film, television, theatre, video games, music, or whatever shape it's in! My favourite writing is experimental because I think pushing the boundaries of what art 'should' be or 'should' do is really important for us to think about.

If you're working on English Literature, Media Studies, Philosophy, Drama, Classics, or any subject that involves responding to texts and ideas, I'd love to work with you, no matter your age or subject level.

If you're looking for guidance with things like critical thinking, philosophical arguments, how to structure compelling essays, how to contextualise your ideas with relevant theories, or just to reinvigorate the joy of literature, then please also get in touch.

Love your work,

Dante

I’d prefer not to be too prescriptive in terms of our lessons. First, I'd like to listen to you and get a sense of what you want out of our time together. The most important message I'd like to stress is that anyone has the capacity to enjoy and excel in these fields. The only thing I ask is that you come to our sessions with an open mind and a willingness to explore the ideas.

Are you finding it difficult to ‘get’ a particular text? Do you just not enjoy it? That’s great – we can work on that together by reading and discussing key sections, comparing it to works we might like better and figuring out why. The wonderful thing about literature is it’s perfectly valid to not like something that lots of other people do, but let’s see if we can compellingly defend ourselves!

Are you having trouble in exam conditions, responding critically to unseen texts, or structuring an essay on-the-fly? No worries! We can work with past papers, we can answer questions together, we can set out homework plans to develop those skills, and we can learn some tools to give you a head start when it comes to exam day.

Do you have a larger project such as a dissertation and you’re looking to extend your literature, structure it effectively, or just don’t know where to begin? Great! We can talk about your project, why you’re passionate about it, mind-map ideas, I can provide feedback to draft sections, and I can point you in the direction of areas that I think might be worth exploring.