Leigh Manley was born in Llandaff North, Cardiff, in 1977, before moving to his mother’s hometown, Maesteg, aged three. He attended Maesteg Comprehensive School and went on to study English Literature and History at Aberystwyth University. He worked in financial services for twenty-two years, during which time he married Zoe, settled in Cardiff and gained three daughters. Following a career break in 2022, Leigh successfully secured a place on a writers’ development programme with the national arts body, Literature Wales, in 2023, going on to forge a new career in the arts as a writer, educator and freelance creative facilitator. His poetry, for children and adults, has been nominated and shortlisted for several awards, appearing in arts and poetry publications including Poetry Wales, Red Poets, Black Bough Poetry, The Dirigible Balloon, Northern Gravy, and Nawr Magazine. Through his voluntary work with the British Heart Foundation Cymru, Leigh advocates for the patient’s voice as a member of its cardiac public panel.