Polly Elisabeth Russell is a

food historian Food history is an interdisciplinary field that examines the history and the cultural, economic, environmental, and sociological impacts of food and human nutrition. It is considered distinct from the more traditional field of culinary history, ...

and curator at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

with responsibility for research on social science and food. She writes a food history column for the weekend magazine of the ''Financial Times'' and from 2015 has been the co-presenter of the BBC television series '' Back in Time for...''.

Early life

Polly Russell was educated at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

from where she earned a first class bachelor's degree in American and Commonwealth Arts (1990–1994). She earned a master's degree in journalism from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(1995–1996).

Career

Russell received a stipend to spend a year researching food in Louisiana, after which she returned to the U.K., where she worked as a kitchen junior at The Carved Angel and Moro Restaurant. She joined

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

in July 1997, where she worked in

product development In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along wi ...

, and then completed her PhD at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

in 2003. Russell was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the University of Sheffield from 2003 to 2007 and from 2003 has been a freelance food writer and researcher. She joined the

in 2007 as Lead Curator for Human Geography and Anthropology. Since 2008 she has been curator in Social Sciences. At the British Library, Russell has worked on Sisterhood & After, an

oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...

of the

Women's Liberation Movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

, and on the digitisation of ''

Spare Rib ''Spare Rib'' was a second-wave feminist magazine, founded in 1972 in the United Kingdom, that emerged from the counter culture of the late 1960s as a consequence of meetings involving, among others, Rosie Boycott and Marsha Rowe. ''Spare Rib' ...

'' magazine. She has written "The History Cook" column in the ''

FT Weekend The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...

'' magazine since 2012 and in 2015 she presented the television series '' Back in Time for...'' with

Sara Cox Sara Joanne Cyzer (née Cox; born 13 December 1974) is an English broadcaster. She presented ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' on BBC Radio 1 from 3 April 2000 until 19 December 2003. Since January 2019 she now hosts the BBC Radio 2 drivetime show, Monday ...

on BBC television. She is also the curator of the British Library's annua
Food Season
which she founded in 2018.

Selected publications

*''The kitchen revolution: A year of time-and-money-saving recipes''.

Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Century ...

, 2008. (With Rosie Sykes and Zoe Heron) *''Welcome to London: A world of eating''. Herb Lester Associates, 2015. (map) (With Jenny Linford & Mikey Burton)

References

External links

Polly Russell talking about British food in the 1980s.British Library Food Season
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Polly Living people Employees of the British Library Alumni of the University of Sheffield Food historians Alumni of the University of Exeter Louisiana State University alumni English journalists British curators Social historians Year of birth missing (living people)