Draft:Debora Harding (author)


Debora Harding is an American-British memoirist, essayist and cultural critic whose work has appeared in The Guardian,[1] The Observer,[2] and Unbound.[3]

Early life

Harding grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and Laurens, Iowa.[4] She obtained a BA in political science at George Washington University.[5]

Career

Working under her maiden name Debora Cackler, Harding began her career in Washington, D.C., working for Senator Gary Hart, Senator Tom Daschle, and pollster Peter Hart.[6] She served as executive director of the Capital Crescent Trail for two years, overseeing the early phase that led to the development of the popular 11-mile rail-trail connecting Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Silver Spring, Maryland.[7]

Harding co-founded the Oxford Channel (later renamed Six TV), one of the first free-to-air local terrestrial television channels in Oxford, England.[8][9] Within months of launch, the station's programming attracted over 25% of the potential audience of 500,000 viewers each week.[9]

Harding trained as a restorative justice mediator with Concentric Circles in Texas.[10] She was the first victim of a violent crime to enter into mediation with a prisoner in Nebraska, meeting with her attacker 25 years after the assault.[10]

Harding served as CEO of City Bikes, an independent bicycle business in Washington, D.C., that played a major role in promoting sustainable transport in the city.[11] She stepped down from the position in July 2012 following the death of her 14-year-old son, Kadian, in a cycling accident in England.[12][13]

Writing

Her memoir Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime (2020), published by Bloomsbury Publishing in the US and Profile Books in the UK,[14][15] explores trauma, PTSD, and restorative justice through the lens of her own experiences. Written several years after the death of her son, Harding described writing the book as "imperative to my survival" as she worked to separate the existential questions from her childhood trauma from her grief over losing Kadian.[14]

The book has been reviewed in major outlets including The Guardian,[16] The Telegraph,[5] and the New York Journal of Books.[17] It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly,[18] and was selected as an Amazon Editor's Pick.[19] BookPage named it one of the Best Books of 2020 in the Memoirs category.[20]

The book was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction in 2021,[21][22] selected as a 2020 best true crime book by CrimeReads[23] and Oxygen,[24] and selected as an Indie's Choice by the American Booksellers Association.[14]

On 8 January 2024, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed a proclamation honoring Dancing with the Octopus as the 2024 One Book One Nebraska selection by the Nebraska Center for the Book.[25][26][27]

Harding has written for The Guardian,[1] The Observer,[2] and Unbound.[3] She has given interviews on BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4,[28] WOWT television in Omaha,[29] and Times Radio.[30]

Personal life

Harding holds both American and British citizenship and lives in Hampshire, England.[14] She is married to British author Thomas Harding.[13] She has two children, including son Kadian Harding (1998–2012), whose death in a cycling accident in Wiltshire, England, is documented in her husband's memoir Kadian Journal (2014).[13]

She served on the advisory board for the Hart Center for Public Service.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Harding, Debora (11 February 2017). "The lost letter that nearly wrecked our relationship". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  2. ^ a b Harding, Debora (6 September 2020). "PTSD insulated me until I was forced to confront a terrible trauma". The Observer. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  3. ^ a b "The Gallery". Unbound. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  4. ^ "Debora Harding's memoir picked for One Book One Nebraska". The Independent. 17 November 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  5. ^ a b "Kidnapped and raped at 14, 25 years on I confronted my attacker". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Debora Cackler Harding". Unbound. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  7. ^ "Capital Crescent Trail Newsletter" (PDF). April–June 1990. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Six TV closure". The Guardian. 24 July 2000. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  9. ^ a b "The days of Bwana and his nine attendants draw to a close in Oxford". The Independent. 28 March 1994. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  10. ^ a b "Crime & forgiveness". The Christian Science Monitor. 29 October 2003. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  11. ^ "City Bikes". Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  12. ^ "Son of City Bikes CEO Killed in Crash". NBC Washington. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  13. ^ a b c Harding, Thomas (8 December 2014). "Kadian Journal: A father tries to survive the loss of his son, 14". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Interview: Debora Harding, Author of 'Dancing with the Octopus: A Memoir of a Crime'". Hippocampus Magazine. September 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  15. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus". Profile Books. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  16. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus by Debora Harding review – kidnapped at 14". The Guardian. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  17. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus". Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  18. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  19. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus". Amazon. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  20. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus". BookPage. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  21. ^ "2021 CWA Dagger Awards Shortlists Announced". ALCS. 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  22. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus". Crime Writers' Association. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  23. ^ "The Best True Crime Books of 2020". CrimeReads. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  24. ^ "The Best True Crime Books of 2020 for Holiday Gifting". Oxygen. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  25. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus, A Memoir by Debora Harding, as 2024 One Book One Nebraska". Nebraska Center for the Book. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  26. ^ "2024 One Book One Nebraska Proclamation" (PDF). State of Nebraska. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  27. ^ "Dancing with the Octopus chosen as 2024 One Book One Nebraska". Chadron Radio. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  28. ^ "Woman's Hour". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  29. ^ "Woman kidnapped in Omaha decades ago shares story, recalls terror". WOWT. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
  30. ^ "Times Radio interview". Twitter. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2026.

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