Ray Wills

From rural campfires to seaside promenades, writer Ray Wills knows a thing or two about Romani traditions.

Affectionately known as the Gypsy Poet, the 75-year-old has published several authoritative accounts of travelling life, including Where the River Bends, Gypsy Storyteller and The Gypsy Camp, as well as a study into the history of playparks, and well-received anthologies of poetry.

Ray is also a highly entertaining contributor to periodicals such as Travellers’ Times and Play & Playgrounds.

The retired voluntary sector worker, who lives in the artists’ community of Bere Regis in Dorset, has now turned his pen to a stunning new novel, The Time Traveller.

A reading from a Blackpool fortune teller sends a young gypsy on a path through time to encounter some famous travellers from down the years, allowing Ray to explore many of the customs and ways of the Romani people through fiction.

Ray, who is an advocate of the Kushti-Bok gypsy welfare organisation, enjoyed a colourful career before his retirement.

As well as community work for local authorities and voluntary organisations, he designed and helped build adventure playgrounds, chaired a tenants’ group, and even enjoyed a spell as a school governor.

Since retiring, the Gypsy Poet works closely with museums to advise on travelling life, as well as spending more time on his writing.