Dan Simpson is a writer, facilitator, and coach with over a decade of professional experience in the creative industries, education sector, in science and heritage, and with charities and businesses. As a poet and spoken word artist, he makes contemporary work that is engaging, thoughtful, and responsive. His subjects include science and culture; history and place; wellbeing and personal experience; people and poetry. A former Canterbury Laureate, Dan has previously been poet-in-residence at Glastonbury Festival, Imperial College London, National Trust Stowe, Waterloo Station, and St Albans Cathedral. He has devised participatory poetry projects using crowdsourced and roaming poetry for organisations such as the Royal Academy of Arts, National Museum of Scotland, Association for Science and Discovery Centres, and the European Commission. As a facilitator, Dan designs imaginative and reflective workshops that encourage participants to express themselves authentically and creatively.

Dan took up running during the first UK COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 as a way of improving and maintaining his mental health. Finding that it had a significant positive impact on his wellbeing – particularly when linked to journaling and other reflective practices – he continues to run regularly. In 2021 he trained for and completed the London Marathon, which provided many insights and lessons into how to live well.