Ian Clayton


Ian Clayton is an English writer and broadcaster. In a freelance career spanning 20 years he has edited and authored more than forty books and broadcast on TV and radio. He has run education workshops from infant schools to universities, working regularly with musicians on opera and music theatre projects. He has worked across Europe as well as China and the United States.

Current work

Clayton worked with Yorkshire Art Circus for twenty-five years and presented a documentary series for Yorkshire Television called My Yorkshire. He is a regular radio broadcaster and workshop leader for numerous cultural institutions.

Canoeing incident

In April, 2006 Clayton's nine-year-old daughter Billie died in a canoeing accident in Powys, Wales in which her father and twin brother Edward survived. Following an inquest into her death in 2008 – which recorded a verdict of misadventure – Clayton criticised the canoe hire industry and called for it to be more strictly regulated.

Selected books

  • Right Up Your Street: The Express Columns Volume One
  • Wisdom of our Own: Living and Learning Since the Miners' Strike
  • Song for My Father
  • Bringing It All Back Home
  • Entertaining Angels
  • What the Eck Is That Over There?
  • When Push Comes To Shove Volume 2 – Centenary Edition
  • When Push Comes To Shove – The Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year
  • ''Running For Clocks and Dessert Spoons''

    Visiting Scholar

In 2013 and 2015, Ian Clayton was visiting scholar in creative writing at North East Normal University in Changchun, China, where he was invited to give the Masters Lecture at the media school, and was a guest lecturer at Jilin University.

Selected projects as writing workshop leader.