Arts, Culture & Heritage

Rod was educated in Jersey at Victoria College and subsequently at the University of Edinburgh where he graduated with a First in English Language and Literature, winning the James Elliott Prize for English Literature. For 13 years he was Director of the Jersey Arts Centre, also chairing groups which co-ordinated the promotion of the arts generally, and music specifically, across the four larger Channel Islands. He was a founder member of the Jersey Arts in Health Care Trust, and was artistic director of the Jersey International Festivals of 1995 and 1996. Later, he became Chief Officer in the Bailiff’s Chambers where his responsibilities included chairing a group of senior emergency service personnel and representatives of other relevant statutory bodies to advise on the regulation of public entertainment. For 11 years, he was the Island’s Cultural Development Officer, advising the government on cultural policy. He has always enjoyed writing, especially about the arts, and began his career at the Jersey Evening Post. In 2019, he returned to the JEP to work as a senior journalist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1988.