Dennis Hamley was born in Kent in the middle of the Second World War, something which he has described as the biggest shaping experience of his life. In his early career, Dennis was a teacher and he also worked in a teacher training college, as well as assisting at the Open University. He retired from the teaching profession in 1992 to become a full-time writer. Since then he has written over sixty books ranging from plays to non-fiction to short stories. He is now Tutor for Short Fiction for the Oxford Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing and also works for the Oxford Editors, providing editorial guidance and support.