Ashley Hickson-Lovence grew up on a Hackney council estate, an area which would go on to inspire his first novel which was published in April 2019 to wide public acclaim. He spent a period of time as an English teacher in London and is currently studying for his PhD in Creative Writing at UEA in Norwich. He is also an accomplished poet and his prose writing retains much of the lyricism and musicality of his verse. In this conversation, we chatted about his origins and influences as a writer, his writing process and the sense of the poetic which resonates throughout his current writing.