Phil Boyd joined the writers’ workshop at Commonword in 1977. He used to write mainly political poetry. In 1981, he said,”Once upon a time my writing used to boil down to political statements and observations. Now what I am trying to do through my writing is explore the way people experience our particular society and how their ideas develop from the lives they lead.” Whilst working at Commonword, he worked with Andy Mitchell on editing Leslie Wilson’s Dobroyed.