My cousin Debra Shulkes, who has died aged 46 of cancer, was an editor and translator, as well as an advocate for the human rights of people with psychiatric diagnoses. Working with the European Network of (Ex-)Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP), Debra was determined that people who had endured misguided or even coercive treatment should direct their own care.
An Australian who had made her home in Prague’s expat community for the past two decades, Debra worked as a freelance editor, translator and researcher (she spoke Russian and Czech as well as English). Most recently Debra was editing Birdsong, an anthology of writing of users and survivors of psychiatry funded by the Wellcome Collection, to be published next year.
The opportunities for Debra to come to the UK and work with many of the writers and collaborators on Birdsong were limited by the pandemic and other factors, but she managed to work virtually with great success. Pre-pandemic Debra had spent much time with friends and colleagues in Sheffield and London, and attended poetry workshops in the UK.
Born in Melbourne, to Golda (nee Starr), a teacher and librarian, and Gary Shulkes, an accountant, Debra went to Melbourne girls grammar school. Gary was an anglophile, and they shared a love of British sitcoms and comedians.
At the University of Melbourne, Debra completed a BA in literature and philosophy, a law studies degree and a diploma of modern languages (Russian), graduating in 2001. She studied in St Petersburg for her final year and moved to Prague just after.
Her freelance editing and translation clients ran from law firms to universities, including Brunel and Sheffield.
From 2004 to 2009 she was the in-house language editor at Glatzova & Co, a Prague law firm. She then took the role of publications officer and organiser for the ENUSP, speaking regularly at forums of the European Commission, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and the World Health Organization. After leaving she gained a certificate in mental disability law at the Central European University (2010) and continued her work as an activist on a volunteer basis.
From 2014 to 2019 she was language editor at the Metropolitan University Prague, and a researcher and fact-checker for the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Australia, before focusing on Birdsong and other projects.
Debra had a slight build and a self-effacing manner that belied her strength. Through her ongoing project “a book is a boat”, she arranged to donate her savings to grassroots organisations in the UK and US, bringing books to people who wouldn’t otherwise have access: in prisons, unhoused communities, psychiatric hospitals, shelters, and libraries in lower-income areas.
Debra was diagnosed with cancer in early September. She is survived by her mother, Golda, and sister, Rachel. Gary died earlier this year.
