Born in Glasgow's East End, Brian W. Lavery forged a successful career as a journalist before undertaking a first-class joint honours degree (English and Creative Writing) and a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Hull. His account of Hull's triple trawler disaster, The Headscarf Revolutionaries, brought national attention to previously untold lives of heroism. It has been optioned for film and spawned BBC TV and radio documentaries, song cycles, a poetry collection and has been optioned for film. In August 2020 Dr Lavery received the City of Kingston upon Hull Lord Mayor's Civic Crown Award for preserving his adopted city's heritage. He lectures in creative writing and journalism at the University of Leeds Lifelong Learning Centre, and is features writer for Fishing News and several other publications.