Leaving school at 16 with few qualifications, Josephine worked as a door-to-door salesperson, a children’s nanny, a secretary and a sales person before returning to study full-time at the age of 30, encouraged by one of her sisters.
It was while studying for an English degree at Chichester University and an MA in Creative Writing at UEA that she began to submit her writing for publication. Short stories were published in several anthologies and magazines, a play and a short story were broadcast on Radio 4 and a stage play was produced at the Chelsea Theatre, London. Josephine went on to teach writing at Chichester University.
She started writing poetry in 2008 and today her poetry is widely published in magazines such as The Rialto, Poetry Wales, The North, Under the Radar, The Manchester Review, New Walk, and The Interpreter’s House. She has been a winner in competitions such as The Bridport Prize, The Stafford Poetry Competition, and Live Canon Competition. Her pamphlet The Misplaced House was published by tall-lighthouse in December 2014.
In recent years Josephine has worked for The Reader Organisation in Wiltshire, facilitating weekly read aloud groups for people living with dementia. She has also worked extensively in schools and community settings, running writing workshops and literature events. She was the inaugural Poet in Residence at Trowbridge Town Hall in 2016.