James Armstrong has a B.A. and M.A. from the Royal College of Art. He practised as a painter for over 25 years, selling work in the UK and Paris.
Around 2001, he began writing poetry. Two £500 prizes funded creative writing courses.
In 2003, he re-trained to teach English at various language schools and, from 2009 – 2018, at Ferrara University, Italy; from 2018 until Covid, at Exeter University.
While in Italy, he collaborated on translating poetry collections of both Kathleen Jamie and Tiffany Atkinson.
Twenty nineteen saw the publication of a biography of the painter, John Constable: ‘From Painting Room to Paradise: A Savage Fate,’ ostensibly written by the actual Constable family nurse of 35 years.
In 2021, he published an illustrated collection of 60 poems: ‘Drawn Together’.
He teaches and writes in Devon; has four children, three grandchildren; no dogs or cats!
He is currently seeking publication for a narrative, non-fiction story about the construction of two tombs in Han China (100 B.C.E.), discovered in 1968.
The Narrator – equivalent of a journalist – is tasked with recording construction of the tombs. His disturbed nature, coming from a broken home, is gradually transformed by coming to appreciate the fine works of the craftspeople furnishing the tombs.
While writing his memoir of those times, he is troubled by surprising visits from an ex-colleague.
An event unthinkable occurs which threatens his memoir and life, precipitating action. He must complete the memoir, hide it. Disappear.
