River Wolton grew up in central London, lived in Sheffield for nearly twenty years and has recently relocated to North Derbyshire.

She is currently a tutor with Sheffield Young Writers and Chesterfield Young Writers, and recent freelance projects include work for BBC Blast, Sheffield Domestic Abuse Forum, Sheffield Hallam University and Creative Partnerships.

Women she met as a volunteer at the Northern Refugee Centre inspired her poem Everything I know about war which won first prize in the Red Pepper Poetry Competition 2004. Adrian Mitchell, Shadow Poet Laureate and competition judge, wrote: ‘The winning entry … is beautiful because it is written with great care and love for the people in the poem and for the English language.’