Michael Cannon

I was born in 1958, attended a Secondary School until the age of 17 and left without intentions of going on to further education. I became an apprentice engineer, but left after around a year. I then worked for the Inland Revenue but was pathetially bad as a Civil Servant. I stuck that out for about a year also and left to take up whatever desultory occupations I could to make ends meet: I worked as a labourer on a building site, a warehouseman, a general dogsbody in a factory manufacturing carpet sweepers. I painted lamp posts for a local authority. I took all the money I had out of the bank and went to America, to return less than two months later with no money and no prospects. I then worked in the Shetland Islands doing elementary logistics for a company which helped construct an oil terminal. These were just some of the jobs. There are more.

I eventually decided to return to full time education. At the age of 23 I attended a College of Further Education to study for the exams to gain admittance to University. I read English and graduated four years later with an honours degree.

I currently live near Glasgow with my wife and daughter. I work at Strathclyde University. Aside from The Borough and A Conspiracy of Hope, published by Serpents Tail, I've also had short stories published in several Scottish Anthologies. In August 2006 Lachlan's War was published by Viking Penguin.