Marlenny Deenerwan holds a PhD in Theatre Performance from Monash University, Australia (2016), a Master of Arts (2011) and a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Drama (2007) from Universiti Malaya and a Diploma in Creative Writing from the National Arts Academy, now known as ASWARA (2002).  Before entering the academic world, she was a teacher at SM Shan Tao in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and worked as a sub-editor at Daily Express Sabah. As an academic, her research is in the field of Malaysian traditional and ritual theatre: Bobolian rituals in Sabah, the traditional theatre of Wayang Kulit, Makyong and Bangsawan, research on the Minang community in Kuala Lumpur and the Kaul event of the Melanau community in Mukah. Her most recent research focused on the development of interactive theatre as an alternative to teaching and learning in primary school. This project started in 2017 in a rural school in SK Pekan Ranau, Sabah under the UMRG grant and was further developed into a DraFDidik module. This is a teaching and learning method using drama/theatre for passive children that was tested in five primary schools in the Klang Valley in 2023, funded by a UMCares grant. In November 2023, Marlenny won Silver Award in International Education Innovation Expo 2023 through the project DraFDidik. Marlenny has been a creative writer since 1999