Hello!
I'm Debbie Pullinger (some of the time; see below) and I'm a writer. At the moment I'm working on a book about the value of knowing poetry by heart. Drawing on the findings from the Poetry and Memory Project, it weaves together first-hand accounts from people who know some poems, research in memory and neuroscience, and some of the history of memorisation. I'm particularly interested in the different ways that the written and the spoken word are experienced, and in the relationships between text and voice, page and body. So poetry and poetic language make a good field of enquiry. I ran the Poetry and Memory Project at the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, where I also taught on Children's Literature and Creativity courses. I also held a Junior Research Fellowship at Wolfson College, where I'm now a Fellow. I came late to this academic venture, via a masters degree in Children's Literature, another in Educational Research, and then a PhD on orality and children's poetry. Previously, I was a freelance editor and writer and publishing consultant, before which I'd spent several years working as an editor in educational publishing. I was born on a border, between Wales and England, and have dwelt on edges and borders of all kinds ever since. Other actvities and interests that play an important part in life and flourishing in it, in no significant order, are: writing poetry, choral singing, campaigning on local environmental issuses, faith and spirituality, natural history, and walking – preferably in hills and other places with a touch of wildness (and thus, most days, wonder what I'm doing living in Cambridge). I also lead retreats in nature, which integrate some of these things, which you can read on my other website, Sauntering. (A different name, but still me!) |