The book is divided into five sections: Mental and Emotional Well-Being, Motivations, Self-Image and Self-Acceptance, The World and Other People, and Love and Loss. The divisions, for me, were a distraction but not a reduction since you can read them once as I did, many times or not at all. Not so with the seventy-four conditions, each of which is printed above its poem. I would ask lots of questions. The fact that people have come does not mean they are willing to open the door to a stranger. Sometimes, they’d say: “I don’t know why I’m here, I don’t have any problems, my life is great.” Those were the people who often would be crying within five minutes. Deborah has been prescribing poems for many years. Before the Poetry Pharmacy opened, she travelled the country in a vintage ambulance and gave poetry consultations at schools and festivals. Now she has a dedicated consultation room at the shop, complete with velvet chaise longue. Prized Poems: Twenty-five Years of the Forward Prizes | Forward Arts Foundation". www.forwardartsfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016.

And there are some superb poems, for me some new ones, old friends and a few regulars. There's a lovely variety of poetry modern and traditional, which includes works by Phillip Larkin, Maya Angelou, Rumi, William Carlos Williams, Whitman, Carver, cummings, Millay, Mary Oliver, Berry, Keats and Cope. Poetry is soul food so of course some will taste better on your tongue than others. He was left standing with blood on his hands and a poem in his head – Philip Larkin’s ‘ Ambulances’,which talks about the moment when one sees an ambulance on the street: In this programme, William meets Rebecca who has been experiencing a loss of control in her life due to serious illness, Sarah whose 18 year old triplets are about to the fly the nest and head off to university, and Suzanne who is coming to terms with her role as carer within her family.

Then all the small securities you built about your house, your desk, your calendar are blown like straws; and momentarily, as if a scent of ivy or the earth had opened up a childhood door, you pause, These annual anthologies of the poems in the running for the Forward Prizes remain the best way of encountering the richness that new poetry has to offer.’ Daily Telegraph Keep up to date The course was devised and is taught by artist and writer Sophie Howarth. Sophie was the co-founder of The School of Life and former Curator of Public Programmes at Tate Modern. She is the author of several books, most recently The Mindful Photographer. All her work is about deepening connection to ourselves, one another and the wider web of life. I suppose it also changed my life because I realised how powerful it can be, if you get the right poem to the right person when they need it. It’s a message that you can hang on to. So it led to the work I do now. Did you ever feel like giving up? Explore the town. Oswestry has a charming town centre with a variety of independent shops and traditional pubs. Be sure to visit the Oswestry Market, which is held every Wednesday and Saturday.

Then, one day, she was walking down the high street in Bishop’s Castle, a few miles away from her home, when she looked into a closed-up shop, saw the dusty and neglected Edwardian shelves and drawers – and fell in love.I’ve always believed in the power of poetry to explain people to themselves. The Price, by Stuart Henson, is the kind of poem that has enormous impact and power, especially when encountered unexpectedly. I liked the concept and premise of this variegated anthology a lot. A fine poem a day keeps the doctor away. As a believer in the power and the necessity of poetry, I cheer William Sieghart’s laudable mission to listen to people’s problems and administer a “prescription” in the shape of poem to those affected by what he classifies as “conditions” (mostly ‘spiritual ailments’ as there are, addiction, despair at the absurdity of the world, aging, the emotions connected to love, regret, self-recrimination, heartbreak, depression, isolation, various forms of fear, grief, lethargy, illness, worrying and many, many more - the array of human suffering is wide). As a devotee and promotor of poetry, having founded National Poetry Day in Britain, he understood that suffering is the access point to poetry for a lot of people and that such offers a momentum to introduce people to poetry as they are ready to open their ears, hearts and minds – and find poetry as a balm, a comfort, a smile, a succour, or simply a help to embrace one’s feelings in certain situations (infatuation, grief) The poems are presented in five categories, touching on mental and emotional wellbeing, motivations, self-image and self-acceptance, the world and other people, love and loss. The final session is a collective celebration. We’ll share the fruits of our new habits, and marvel at just how many different ways our group have found to bring more poetry into both our own and others’ daily lives. These annual anthologies of the poems in the running for the Forward Prizes remain the best way of encountering the richness that new poetry has to offer.’ Daily Telegraph. I find that poetry helps to lower my stress levels and switch my thoughts from the consuming variety to calmer, more philosophical ones. It is the perfect way to relax after what have been challenging, but extremely gratifying, days of being part of a team producing a national newspaper from our homes.

The Forward Book of Poetry 2020 brings together a selection of the best poetry published in the British Isles over the last year, including the winners of the 2019 Forward Prizes – and a foreword by jury chair Shahidha Bari. The Poetry Pharmacy is one of the anthologies I'd like to get a physical copy of to leaf through regularly. I discovered new poets, the collection is diverse and I wrote down some poems that are now part of my favourites. I loved that the author linked health and poetry: words mean more than just assembled letters on paper or uttered out loud. They create something after they pass, after they are read, something that stays - I still remember "Come to the Edge" by Christopher Logue! Then all the small securities you built about your house, your desk, your calendar are blown like straws; and momentarily, as if a scent of ivy or the earth had opened up a childhood door, you pause, to take the measure of what might have been against the kind of life you settled for. From the start I was overwhelmed by people’s responses, not just to the idea itself and to the theatre, but to the ‘therapy’ session. There is a magical combination of things when someone comes in: they put their feet up, sounds outside are hushed; it is a non-threatening intimate space. I ask about books that had particular meaning, or that they loved as a child. Or I take them to really lovely places by asking something like: When was the last time you stood by the sea, or in the countryside or a beautiful place where you felt properly rested? Then they go to that place, in their mind.Watch casting demonstrations in the foundry and be entertained by fire shows and a stilt walker before the spectacular 18-minute fireworks extravaganza begins at 7:45pm. The AONB is a protected area that is recognised for its outstanding natural beauty. The Stiperstones are one of the most popular tourist destinations in the AONB, and for good reason! In 1994, he founded National Poetry Day, [4] a day of celebration of verse on the first Thursday of October, which has become an established fixture in the cultural calendar. Events take place in schools, pubs, arts centres, bookshops, libraries, buses, trains and Women's Institutes, and the day is the focus for media attention for poetry. [5]

That’s why I’ve ended up doing this, I think. I’m probably trying to find my own answers. But I am learning. Is there a habit or routine that has served you? The essential thing when thinking about a life cut short is not to imagine it as an oak sapling, cut before its prime. Those we lost were never meant to be grand old trees at all. Instead, they lived their days bright and treasured; they bloomed before they fell, and that was enough. Their lives were beautiful, and whole, and perfect, like a flower on a summer’s day. They are gone now, but their memory remains with us, a source of light. It will never be extinguished.

For years now, Alma has been the Emergency Poet, travelling around British festivals and literary events in an old ambulance, and giving one-to-one consultations. Her ‘patients’ share what ails them, and she then prescribes a healing poem.