About us

Founder and Chair of WEB, DAVID BRIGGS has been a teacher of English in the south-west of England since 1996, including 13 years as Head of English at Bristol Grammar School. He has published four collections of poetry with Salt Publishing. The Method Men (2010) was shortlisted for the London Festival Poetry Prize, and Rain Rider (2013) was a winter selection of the Poetry Book Society. His third book — Cracked Skull Cinema (2019), was a Poetry Wales pick of the year, and his fourth book, The Odyssey Complex and Other Poems, was published in November 2024. David received an Eric Gregory Award in 2002, and his work has appeared in journals and anthologies from The Poetry Review to the generational anthology edited by Roddy Lumsden, Identity Parade (Bloodaxe, 2010). David has been a tutor for The Poetry School and poet-in-residence at Bristol University. From 2019-2023 he was co-editor of the Bristol-based poetry journal Raceme. In 2023 he completed his practice-based PhD research in creative and critical writing – The Odyssey Complex: Reading and Writing Midlife Poetics and Middle Style – at the University of Exeter.

Principal Examiner for WRITE-2, ANDREW JAMISON is a writer and teacher with over a decade of experience in a range of schools, encompassing state comprehensive, and independent selective settings. He helped found the AFA in Creative Writing and has been Principal Examiner of the WRITE-2 paper since its inception. Andrew has published three collections of poetry with The Gallery Press and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Reading. He has taught Creative Writing to secondary school students as well as university students, and been an examiner for the CIE Pre- U, CIE International A-Level, Singapore A-Level, and AQA Creative Writing A-Level. In 2024, Andrew founded The Poet’s Workshop, which offers online creative writing workshops, webinars and editorial services.

Principal Moderator for WRITE-1 and Principal Examiner for WRITE-3, During Maria’s career she has been Head of English, Senior Teacher, and Deputy Headteacher responsible for raising standards in the London Borough of Brent’s Convent of Jesus and Mary Comprehensive School. She has also been Head of Key Stage 5 English and Head of Year 12 in Thomas Bennett Community College and Chichester Girls School. She completed two Masters degrees: Language and Literature in Society at London’s Institute of Education, and Creative Writing at Chichester University. Having taught the AQA Creative Writing A-Level from its inception, she was also a Team Leader for the coursework components of AQA’s A-Level course for four years.

Maria began creative writing alongside her students and, after many years writing academic essays, she admits it took little time to find her voice. She is currently a travel writer and contributor to MMM Motorhome Magazine and keeps a regular travel blog at campervantherapy.com. She is a member of the Swanbourne Poets Group, for whom she is co-editing an anthology. She also writes flash fiction, and is currently working on a Young Adult novel.