Doreen Cunningham is an Irish-British writer born in Wales. After studying engineering she worked briefly in climate related research at NERC and in storm modelling at Newcastle University, before turning to journalism. She has worked for the BBC World Service variously as a international news presenter, editor, producer and reporter, since 2000. She won the RSL Giles St Aubyn Award 2020 and was shortlisted for the Eccles Centre and Hay Festival Writers Award 2021 for Soundings, her first book.
Doreen's is a thrilling, passionate and tenderhearted adventure. I read this book in one sitting, and couldn't sleep that night - my mind was still filled with her extraordinary endurance, her wild spirit. * Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart has Five Openings * What a voice! What a book! Pounding with the power of thrashing flukes, shivering with Arctic ice, yet suffused with rare human warmth. A book worthy of its mighty subjects. * Charles Foster, author of Being a Human * Beautiful and brave, and startling in its raw emotional honesty. * Neil Ansell, author of Deep Country and The Circling Sky * This stunning book blends nature writing of the most urgent kind with precise and poetic observation of human tribulation and the interconnectedness of all things. Fresh, brave and unique * Damian le Bas, author of The Stopping Places * Soundings stuns with its bravery and lyricism. This is a book to be devoured. * Ramita Navai, author of City of Lies * Cunningham's scientific knowledge and gorgeous prose take us on an extraordinary journey as she forges a remarkable connection with these astonishing creatures and issues an impassioned plea for our shared futures. Soundings is a completely unique, unforgettable book. * Erica Wagner * This stunning book blends nature writing of the most urgent kind with precise and poetic observation of human tribulation and the interconnectedness of all things. Fresh, brave and unique * Damian le Bas, author of The Stopping Places * Soundings stuns with its bravery and lyricism. This is a book to be devoured. * Ramita Navai, author of City of Lies * Cunningham's scientific knowledge and gorgeous prose take us on an extraordinary journey as she forges a remarkable connection with these astonishing creatures and issues an impassioned plea for our shared futures. Soundings is a completely unique, unforgettable book. * Erica Wagner *