The Girl Who Forgets How to Walk - Penned in the Margins - How to walk

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Aldword

A poetic narrative collection centered on a disabled girl’s lived experiences and inner transformation. The work traces her curiosity about the surrounding landscape and science-like observations alongside intimate episodes of struggle, isolation care, rehabilitation, and self-directed learning. Recurring motifs include mobility regained through determination, managing fear and cold, and practicing walking across limestone and other geological settings. It also weaves in letters and speculative inquiries that broaden the emotional range from grief to resilience.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages92

Reading Time2 h 22 min

AccessFree to download

CONTENTS

Peninsula

Explanation of quarter sheet 91 N.W.

Relativity

Crossing to the Island

Limestone (CaCO₃)

Bodies

Walney Island

Volcanology

Palisaded hilltop enclosure…

How to Notice the Sky

Tarn

Grim

Limekiln

Haematite

Sinkhole

Disaster

The Girl Who Forgets How to Walk

How the forgetting began

The hot, terrible dream

The cot in the isolation hospital

The complete mechanisation of the post-infectious child

The refusal to wear callipers and orthopaedic boots

During periods of immobility she studied the Ladybird Book of British Wild Flowers

The Ethel Hedley Hospital for Crippled Children

Avoirdupois 11+

The Girl Who Kate Davis 'These poems are personal and deeply affecting,always curiousand outward looking,even when negotiating a very real strugglewith disability'—LUKE KENNARD Penned in the Margins THE GIRL WHO FORGETS HOW TO WALK Kate Lis a poet aud storyteller.She was born in 1951 on the Furness peninsula of southCumbd has always lived there.Her poems have been published in Iota and Butcher'Dog,implan.n audio-benches,sung throughout a 12-hour tide cycle,embroidered on clothes,remixel a sound artist and printed on shopping bags.In 2013 she received a Northern WritersAward,, Poets Bursary. 4400270780 # The Girl Who ForgetsHow to Walk Kate Davis Penned in the Margins LONDON PUBLISHED BY PENNED IN THE MARGINS Toynbee Studios,28 Commercial Street,London E16ABwww.pennedinthemargins.co.uk All rights reserved◎ Kate Davis 2018 The right of Kate Davis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her inaccordance with Section 77 of the Copyright,Designs and Patent Act 1988. This book is in copyright.Subject to statutory exception and to provisions of relevant collectivelicensing agreements,no reproduction ofany part may take place without the written permissionof Penned in the Margins First published 2018 Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International ISBN978-1-908058-51-5 This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,by way of trade or otherwise,be lent,re-sold,hired out,or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form ofbinding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition includingthis condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. § The author acknowledges the support of the Poetry School and the Northern Writers'Awards fromNew Writing North,supported by Northumbria University and Arts Council England 1 CONTENTS Peninsula Explanation of quarter sheet 91 N.W. Relativity Crossing to the Island Limestone(CaCO₃) Bodies Walney Island Volcanology Palisaded hilltop enclosure… How to Notice the Sky Tarn Grim Limekiln Haematite Sinkhole Disaster The Girl Who Forgets How to Walk How the forgeting began The hot, terrible dream The cot in the isolation hospital The complete mechanisation of the post-infectious child 11 12 13 14 16 17 19 20 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 31 33 35 36 37 The refusal to wear callipers and orthopaedic boots39Duringperiods ofimmobility she studied the LadybirdBook of British Wild Flowers40The Ethel Hedley Hospital for Crippled Children41Avoirdupois11+ 43444647 Song for myselfFixedThese shoes48The dream again49Boulder Drift51Pattern spell53Rain55She comes up with a way to cope with the cold ofit56She examines her fear that the ground is not to be trusted57Hand-writing practice59Geology60She teaches herselfto walk across a limestone landscape63Dream65Now that I've Come Back69Theatre Girl70The Taxidermist's Apprentice Discovers Palaeontology72Erosion74 Letter to JoeArchaeologyHermaphroditeCryptography 75 e(i 78 79 80 CL Thesaurus for a Lady Gum-shoeI stand still at the edge of the sea 82 85 87 # ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Malk

FAQs

What is the book centered on?

It centers on a girl who forgets how to walk, following her experiences and gradual ways of coping, learning, and regaining mobility.

How does the book connect personal struggle with the natural world?

It repeatedly links inner life to close attention to places and observations, including geological settings such as limestone and other landscape elements.

What kinds of passages and materials appear in the book?

The contents show poems and sections that include narrative episodes, acknowledgements, and a variety of themed sequences, such as letters and observational “noticing” of the world.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by Aldword