Kate Pullinger is a Canadian
novelist
A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
and
author
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
of
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Businesses
*Digital bank, a form of financial institution
*Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company
*Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
fiction, and a professor of Creative Writing at
Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...
, England.
Early life and education
She was born 1961 in
Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located approximately 10 km southwest of the confluence of the Kootenay River and the St. Mary River (British Columbia), St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region ...
, Canada, and went to high school on
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
. She dropped out of
McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
,
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
, after a year and a half.
Career
Pullinger worked for a year in a
copper mine
Copper extraction is the multi-stage process of obtaining copper from its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ...
in the
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
. She then travelled and settled in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where she now resides.
Pullinger has been writer-in-residence at the
Battersea Arts Centre
The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in Theater, theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a ...
, the
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...
, the prisons
HMP Gartree and
HMP Maidstone, and in
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
itself. She was Judith E. Wilson Visiting Writing Fellow at
Jesus College,
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
(1995/96), and the Visiting Writing Fellow at
The Women's Library
The Women's Library is England's main library and museum resource on women and the women's movement, concentrating on Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has an institutional history as a coherent collection dating back to the mid-1920s, ...
,
London Metropolitan University
London Metropolitan University, commonly known as London Met, is a public university, public research university in London, England. The University of North London and London Guildhall University merged in 2002 to create the university. The Un ...
(2001/03). She was Research Fellow for The trAce Online Writing Centre Arts and Humanities Research Board project ''Mapping the Transition from Page to Screen'', where she investigated new forms of electronic narrative (2002/03). She taught on the MA in Creative Writing and New Media at
De Montfort University
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...
,
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
, UK, where she was Reader in Creative Writing and New Media. She is a member of the Production and Research in Transliteracy (PART) group at De Montfort, researching
transliteracy
Transliteracy is "a fluidity of movement across a range of technologies, media and contexts". It is an ability to use diverse techniques to collaborate across different social groups.
Transliteracy combines a range of capabilities required to mo ...
. She is the
Royal Literary Fund
The Royal Literary Fund (RLF) is a benevolent fund that gives assistance to published British writers in financial difficulties. Founded in 1790, and granted a royal charter in 1818, the Fund has helped an extensive roll of authors through its lon ...
Virtual Fellow and Professor of Creative Writing at
Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...
.
Pullinger is an atheist.
Writing
Pullinger's earlier books include the novels ''When the Monster Dies'' (1989), ''Where Does Kissing End?'' (1992), ''The Last Time I Saw Jane'' (1996), ''Weird Sister'' (1999) and ''A Little Stranger'' (2004 in Canada and 2006 in the UK), as well as the short-story collections ''Tiny Lies'' (1988) and ''My Life as a Girl in a Men's Prison'' (1997). She co-wrote the novelization of the film ''
The Piano
''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical romance film written and directed by New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion. It stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin (in her first major acting role). The film focuses on a mute Sc ...
'' (1993) with director
Jane Campion
Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...
.
Electronic literature
George Landow examined Kate Pullinger's and
Talan Memmott's 2003 animated poem, ''Branded'', in his 2006 textbook, ''Hypertext 3.0.'' He explains that this poem moves text on screen one line at a time, for a computer-driven timed reading''.''
Pullinger also writes for film and for the digital media. Her most recent digital works are ''Flight Paths'' (2007–), a "networked novel" created in collaboration with worldwide participants, and ''Inanimate Alice'' (2005–), a series of
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
novels, both created with writer/artist
Chris Joseph, and ''The Breathing Wall'' (2004), experimental fiction that responds to the reader's rate of breathing, made with collaborators Stefan Schemat and Chris Joseph.
Pullinger was the lead writer on the ''24hr Book Project'', a project to write, edit and produce a novel in 24 hours, which was managed by CompletelyNovel.com in collaboration with ''if:book'' (a book industry think tank), the
Society of Young Publishers and Spread the Word (a writer development agency).
Pullinger's digital literature work is preserved in the
NEXT Museum, Library, and Preservation Space, and
Agnieszka Przybyszewska (University of Łódź) and Mariusz Pisarski describe the challenges involved in this preservation effort.
''Breathe'' was exhibited at the British Library, 2023.
Awards
Pullinger won the 2009
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields.
The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for her novel ''The Mistress of Nothing'', a fictionalized tale of Sally Naldrett, lady's maid to
Lady Duff Gordon, who traveled with her mistress to Egypt in Victorian times.
She received the 2021
Electronic Literature Organization
The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) is a nonprofit organization "established in 1999 to promote and facilitate the writing, publishing, and reading of electronic literature". It hosts annual conferences, awards annual prizes for works of a ...
's
Marjorie C. Luesebrink Career Achievement Award for her work to bridge print and digital fiction.
Selected bibliography
Novels
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Hypertexts
* 2005-2018.
Inanimate Alice.
* 2007.
A Million Penguins.
Short stories
*
* (1995). ''How Maxine Learned to Love her Legs: And Other Tales of Growing Up''.
*
References
External links
Personal websiteKate Pullinger biographyat
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...
Literature
Dr Kate Pullingerat
De Montfort University
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...
,
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullinger, Kate
1961 births
Living people
Academics of Bath Spa University
21st-century Canadian novelists
Canadian women novelists
Academics of De Montfort University
People from Cranbrook, British Columbia
Governor General's Award–winning fiction writers
21st-century Canadian women writers
Canadian atheists
Novelists from British Columbia
Canadian electronic literature writers
Canadian electronic literature works