My father named me Pelé, because this great forward was his hero, and because it’s easier to say than Edson Arantes do Nascimento. My namesake has made me a braver poet and a better striker.

The workplace can function as a creative space for employees. Through the study of literature and a solid writing ‘practice’ my students convert their personal experiences and ideals into a more connected and empowering work/life balance while becoming more effective writers and speakers at work.

After an MA in creative writing at UEA, under the tutelage of Andrew Motion (then Poet Laureate), I became Poet in Residence at Tate Modern, the Royal Academy, Keats-Shelley House, and British School at Rome, where I founded the creative writing programme. In 2019 was invited to be a visiting tutor at the University of Westminster. Since 2015 I have worked with companies such as PwC, Nielsen, and a clutch of hedge funds, tutoring leaders, and employees in creative innovation.

Most recently, I have performed Vincent and The Poets at the Courtauld Institute, completed a monumental verse inscription (the longest verse inscription in the West) at the Chelsea Barracks development for Qatari Diar, and during the Lockdown I conceived, scripted, and directed a film about John Keats, “Lift Me Up I am Dying.”