Spotlight on Arts – Tim Grayson Poetry and Creativity
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this week’s edition of Spotlight on Arts, John Coster is joined by Tim Grayson, a Leicester-based creative whose work moves across poetry, board game design, and martial arts instruction. The conversation is rooted in familiarity and curiosity, with John and co-host Rob Watson drawing out the layered experiences that have shaped Tim’s creative outlook.
What unfolds is not a straightforward story of artistic success or singular ambition, but rather an honest exploration of what it means to hold creativity as a constant companion while navigating the demands of everyday life. Tim speaks candidly about working in a corporate publishing role for over a decade—a job he’s good at, but one that has increasingly felt at odds with his desire to make and share things on his own terms. That desire, recently sharpened by a health scare and a growing sense of personal urgency, led him to take a spontaneous trip in pursuit of an opportunity—an act that symbolised, more than anything, a quiet turning point.
The podcast touches on Tim’s many pursuits, from his role as Poet in Residence at Belvoir Castle to the development of Tatakai, a board game shaped by his love for Japanese culture and family life during lockdown. He reflects on the challenges of sharing creative work publicly, the rhythms of attention shaped by ADHD, and the satisfaction of seeing his poetry performed by others. There’s a recognition throughout of the subtle pressures that creatives face—between making a living and making meaning—and a reminder that many artists are doing both, often invisibly.
What gives the conversation its weight is not just the range of Tim’s work, but the way he connects it. Whether writing a poem, teaching jiu-jitsu, or designing a game, he approaches each with a practical curiosity and a belief in the importance of community. His thoughts on supporting others, particularly emerging creatives, speak to a wider ambition—not just to make things, but to help shape a culture where creativity is shared, supported, and allowed to grow.
Listeners are invited not only to hear Tim’s story, but to reflect on the different paths that creative people take, and the spaces—both physical and imaginative—that help those journeys unfold. The episode is available now on Spotlight on Arts.
