Colwyn trevarthen biography sample

by Kevin Nugent and Joanna Hawthorne

Colwyn Trevarthen and the Discovery of the Baby as Storyteller

by Kevin Nugent

The word that Colwyn Trevarthen had died on July 2nd 2024, was greeted with a deep sense of sadness and loss by all who knew him.  He was much admired and much loved.  Colwyn is remembered not only for his brilliantly innovative scholarship but also for his professional generosity, his enthusiasm and his capacity to create and support scholars from many disciplines across the world.

  His ability to probe the inner life of the very young child and to elegantly – and often poetically - describe the imaginative vitality and communicative intimacy of very young children and their caregivers has shaped the thinking of a whole generation of developmental scholars and practitioners. 

Born in New Zealand, Colwyn, was Professor (Emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology in the Departmen