Pop Culture Advent 2023: Door 14
Some of us just fall: On nature and not getting better – Polly Atkin
Another guest post today! I really do appreciate when people join in as I love getting to hear about all sorts of pop culture that has completely passed me by.
Today my favourite New Zealander, and one of the cleverest humans I know, Vicky Teinaki, recommends a book that she’s really enjoyed this year — Polly Akin’s memoir, Some of Us Just Fall : On Nature and Not Getting Better”.
A writer who specialises in poetry and non-fiction, Akin’s memoir details her diagnois with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, having first being diagnosed in her 30s.
Vicky explains why the book was such a compelling read: “Akin’s diagnosis came after decades of injuries and pain. Not that the diagnosis meant she was cured, more that she could understand and actually manage her condition for the first time, rather than have test after test to understand her falls (which give the book its name) leading to repeat injuries and other baffling symptoms. The book talks about nature, and Aktins writing retreats, but also discusses the double challenge of trying to become an academic — badly paid and tough in its own right — with regular trips to the hospital. As more people are dealing with long covid, it’s a heady reminder that chronic illness is a journey, not something that can be solved”
Polly Akin grew up in Nottingham, and currently lives in the Lake District. Outwith her memoir, Akin also has a number of other publications. These include her debut poetry collection, Basic Nest Architecture, and her follow up collection, Much with Body. In 2021, her biography on Dorothy Wordsworth, Recovering Dorothy: The Hidden Life of Dorothy Wordsworth, was published, focusing specifically on Wordsworth’s later life.
In addition to her writing, Polly Akin is co-founder of the Open Mountain initative at Kendal Mountain Festival, which “ seeks to recentre voices currently at the margins of outdoor, mountain and nature writing”. In 2022 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
She certainly sounds like an interesting writer and I’ll be seeking out more. Thank you for the recommendation, Vicky!
Vicky Teinaki is a designer currently working as an UX Lead for the Student Loans Company. On the last Sunday of the month, she publishes, Vickypedia, her newsletter devoted to digital government and design. The archive can be found here.
