About me

Freelance writer, choral arranger, sometime cyclist, serial enthusiast, recovering academic.

I’ve worked with language all my life, as a linguist, teacher and writer. My pop science, humour, music and cycling writing has been published in the Guardian and other outlets, and I write content for small businesses; I like helping people put themselves and their work across in a way that feels accessible and authentic.

My other hat is Ninja Pop Arranger for community choirs. My niche talent in transforming unlikely 80s songs into four-part a cappella harmony has led to commissions from a range of groups including the award-winning White Rosettes barbershop chorus, Manchester Community Choir and Sheffield’s Out Aloud. I’m also half of the team behind Take It To The Bridge, Hebden Bridge’s very own Pop Choir.

This is my personal blog. There’s humour, satire, barbershop, opera, feminism and fangirling. There are a fair few rants about TV, the odd review, and accounts of my fairly unsuccessful attempts to get a bit better at riding cyclocross.

If you want the slightly-more-official version of me, or you’re thinking ‘Wow! I must hire Alison to write words or music for me IMMEDIATELY!’, my business site is over here.