It was during his earlier career as Forestry Consultant in South East England that in 1994 Tim Turnbull began to write poetry seriously. Shortly after seeing a performance by the Nuyorican Café poets he became involved in the Slam movement, cutting his teeth in North London circuit and subsequently touring America with Slam teams.
In 2003, he received an MA with distinction at the prestigious Creative Writing course at Sheffield Hallam University. His first full collection, <em>Stranded in Sub-Atomica</em> (<a href=”http://www.donutpress.co.uk/index.php?books&id=6″>Donut Press</a>, 2005), was nominated for Forward’s Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection in 2007. He has also published <em>Caligula on Ice</em> (2009) and several pamphlets with Donut Press. His poem, ‘Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn’, is a set text on the Pearson Edexcel ‘A’ Level English Lit syllabus.
With the Arts Foundation Fellowship he developed the stage show ‘Caligula on Ice’ which played at theatres around Britain including the old music halls in Hoxton and Glasgow. A second show, ‘Tales of Terror’, followed in 2010, and in 2013 he created a performance piece for Northern Elements ‘Home’ event.
In February 2016, his first collection of supernatural short stories, <em>’Silence’ and Other Stories</em> was published by <a href=”http://www.redsquirrelpress.com/SquirrelCAT%20POSTBOX.html”>Postbox Press</a>. Later that year, he was awarded a PhD in Creative Writing by Northumbria University. A new collection of poetry, <em>Avanti!</em> is due from Red Squirrel Press in 2018.
In March 2017, he played live with his old punk band, Live Lobsters, for the first time in 29 years.