Dr. Mark Crees

Mark Crees is an experienced literature tutor and academic. His passion for reading began with his exploration of Wordsworth that sparked a lasting fascination and appreciation for writers and books which speak of hardship, resilience. 

After attending evening literature classes, Mark went on to study literature formally, completing an MA in Victorian Literature at Liverpool University with Distinction, followed by a PhD on the novelist Mark Rutherford. He has lectured at Liverpool Hope University, the University of Exeter, and the University of Chester, and has extensive experience teaching literature in schools as well as at university level.

As a tutor, Mark’s focus is on helping students engage with books about life’s many struggles and help us to see ourselves and others more clearly. He values reading aloud, believing reading to be a gift that offers an ongoing and necessary training in empathy. For Mark, reading is a deeper form of listening.

Alongside his teaching, he has reviewed books for the Times Literary Supplement, published essays and short fiction in a range of magazines, and written several performed plays, including The Locksmith’s Wife and The Spy Who Loved D. H. Lawrence, as well as the one-man show Dickens Out Loud. His teaching is informed by a wide range of literary influences, including Wordsworth, Dickens, John Berger, Rebecca West, Willa Cather, Geoff Dyer, and Eva Figes. Outside academia, he plays the drums in the rock band The Hurdy Gurdies.