Doreen comes from Yorkshire and taught English there for a number of years before moving to her current home, near Blackheath in London. After graduating from Leeds University, she studied education in Uganda, where she had the dubious honour of receiving her teaching certificate from Idi Amin! In 1976, she completed an MA degree in Twentieth Century Literature at Newcastle University.
In addition to teaching in a variety of schools, Doreen has worked at a national charity for people with cerebral palsy and has also been Director of Studies in an EFL school for adults. Now retired, she is able to devote more time to her writing and her poems have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies. Her first poetry collection, Dark Italics, was published by Indigo Dreams in 2017 and her second collection, Substantial Ghosts, by Oversteps Books will be published in early 2020.
Sarabande in Blue is Doreen’s debut novel and is based on a true story she heard from her grandmother many years ago. The story left a deep impression on her and she has always harboured a secret desire to write about it. She is delighted that it has at last found its way into print.
In her spare time, Doreen enjoys watching tennis (she was once a county tennis player and part-time tennis coach), teaching herself to play the piano and being the willing slave of a black and white cat called Gracie.
Author’s website www.doreenhinchliffe.co.uk