After completing a BA in English at Exeter University, Blakeney Clark returned home to South Cambridgeshire without a definitive sense of what she planned to do next. But the discovery that her local children’s book fair was struggling for lack of volunteers gave her a focus.
While coordinating the team of voluntary staff for the Linton Children’s Book Festival, Blakeney was struck by the impact that an early exposure to reading has on children’s outcomes.
“Being read to as a child has been shown to make more of a difference than almost any other factor, and it’s such a simple thing,” she says.
The experience lured her into exploring more about the books written for children, through the Cambridge MPhil in Children’s Literature. Offered by the Faculty of Education, rather than the School of English, the course provided a “more scientific” approach, Blakeney believes.
“It’s very well balanced, with a variety of forms of assessment. You look at a range of children’s literature, but also at prize culture, diversity or lack of it, and you also get to actively work with children, which I loved.”
Living at home in Linton, and studying at the Faculty on Hills Road, Blakeney admits to having had a “slight estrangement” from the College initially.
“Exeter doesn’t have a collegiate set-up, so I didn’t get it for quite a long time, what the College affiliation was for. I didn’t really engage with Darwin in my first term, but I wanted to. I liked the way the College fosters events and a sense of community, so I joined the May Ball committee which was wonderful! It really made me feel part of it. And now that I’ve left, as I’m still local I love feeling that Darwin is a space where I belong. I pop in for lunch, or to use the punts!”
While still completing her MPhil, Blakeney began working for the Cambridge Literary Festival on their children’s programming – a role for which she showed her aptitude when she dressed up as Elmer the Elephant. She is now employed by the Festival on a permanent basis, and believes her recent studies were the ideal training.
“What I’m doing now could not be more specific to my course. I loved the immersion in reading and learning for learning’s sake that the past year gave me, but after my dissertation I wanted to do something more active, and it’s the perfect fit.”
