Jess Morgan was born in Cardiff in 1947, her family moving to the Rhondda when she was one year old. She attended Porth County Grammar School for Girls, and studied Maths, Geology and Geography at Reading University before starting a long career in engineering. It began with a ‘stop-gap’ job in a Treforest Factory which made plastic moulded components. Working as an assistant in the engineering department Jess soon realised that engineering was what she wanted to do. She therefore went on to complete a Masters Degree in Engineering at Cardiff University before starting a long career with a German Engineering Plastics company, working across Europe. When Jess retired in 2009, a friend encouraged her to join a creative writing group. Always an avid reader, Jess had done little creative writing. She has been a member of the Rhondda Creative Writers group since 2011. She still feels she has ‘a long way to go’ in developing her writing, but she loves ‘having a go’, and the camaraderie of belonging to the group.