A love of reading and art came early and intensely. It has been a way to understand, to escape, and to survive. Now, I want to use it to connect with people and find ways to thrive. By writing and making art, I want to give back to a world that inspires me.
Formal Bio:
Pauline Baecker has a B.A. in English Literature and a B.A. in Visual Art from the University of Washington, graduating with honors. She has worked in editorial for a solar energy magazine and managed large projects for a global book printer. Her first blog of nonfiction essays was featured twice on WordPress Discover. She was born in the Philippines, grew up in Chicago and Seattle, and moved to Germany in her twenties. A world traveler, she loves to explore contemporary themes such as multiculturalism, globalization, othering and societal alienation. She currently lives in Berlin with her husband and two children.
My Kind of Vita (Informal Bio):
- Experience is as meaningful or meaningless as we make it. I want to honor the moments that are important to me, especially those not typically listed in a vita.
- Present: currently finishing my first ever novel! More on that to come!
- 2021-2022: Revised and revised and revised my manuscript.
- 2021: Finished my first manuscript. Yes, it took 7 years to finish a draft I was happy with.
- 2020 – 2022: Took care of my family and homeschooled my children during a global pandemic.
- 2014: Began writing my first novel.
- 2014: Created alightcircle blog, which had two nonfiction essays that went viral: The Mirror of Hate and The Center Everywhere.
- 2012 – 2014: Gave birth to two children. Began a lifelong dream of working for myself as a writer and artist.
- 2009 – 2013: Immigrated to Germany and learned a new language. Got married. Worked as an editor and translator for a magazine on solar energy and as an English teacher.
- Survived living in New York City on an office assistant’s wages.
- Fulfilled a lifelong dream of living in New York City.
- Listening to soothing, rhythmic music on a warm October night in Barcelona is wonderful. So is meeting your true love while dancing in the dark.
- 2008: Went backpacking across Europe alone.
- There’s a difference between being nice and being kind. I prefer kind.
- 1993 – 2008: Graduated from the University of Washington on the Dean’s list with degrees in English and Visual Art, including a minor in Art History. Worked for an early internet retailer, a major book printer, the EPA, the EDA, that big coffee company, and restaurants.
- Racism and poverty are insidious problems that hold everyone back, not just the oppressed. History repeats itself unless—well, you know the rest: “an eye for an eye,” “divide and conquer,” “those others are to blame for our problems.” No thanks, bitch.
- 1985 – 1993: Grew up in Chicago, the fifth of seven children to a devout Catholic family who became members of a doomsday cult. A doubter, a dreamer, an outsider, a melancholic, a worker, a wallower, a scribbler, a hugger, a passionate reader and relentless dessert-maker.
- 1980: Born on a tiny tropical island in the Philippines.
- What came before? And what comes after? You often forget that there may (or may not) be more.
- Live your life. And allow others to live their lives too.
Pauline Baecker 