Poetry + Health Resources List
Poetry + Health Poets – Bios and Links
Beth Calverley is a collaborative poet, creative coach and founder of The Poetry Machine . She co-creates poems with patients, staff members, carers and families in hospitals and many other environments, helping people to express their thoughts and feelings
www.thepoetrymachine.live Support Beth here https://ko-fi.com/thepoetrymachine
Beth Calverley is Poet in Residence with the Arts and Culture Programme at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS FT. Her residency at South Bristol Community Hospital has been funded by Above and Beyond https://www.aboveandbeyond.org.uk/poet-in-residence-funded-at-south-bristol-community-hospital
Katrina Curtis is a Consultant Respiratory Physician based at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. Katrina’s biggest work challenge to date was to lead the initial respiratory response to the coronavirus pandemic. Katrina has always remained interested in the arts and how these may enrich medical practice with the benefit of both patients and staff alike.
Stephen Lightbown is a Blackburn born, Bristol based poet and disability rights champion. Stephen was paralysed following an accident when he was 16 and writes extensively but not exclusively about his life as a wheelchair user.
Stephen Lightbown www.stephenlightbown.com and on social media @spokeandpencil
Having worked as a Consultant in Palliative Care for 13 years, Rachel McCoubrie now works as Lead for Coaching, Mentoring and Wellbeing for Doctors and Dentists at UHBW. Her poetry writing began as a creative outlet for some of the distress and sadness she was seeing her patients and families go through and it has grown from there. She has had some of her poetry published and is delighted to be part of the ‘These are the hands’ NHS anthology. More recently, she has won an Independent Publishers Book Award (an IPPY) in America for her debut children’s book, a rhyming story entitled ‘The Great Alien Cake Off’.
www.rachelmccoubrie.blogspot.com
Elizabeth Osmond is a consultant neonatologist at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston. Her job involves caring for newborns with severe health problems, either because they have been born prematurely, have become unwell after birth or have a congenital anomaly. Training as a doctor and then subspecialising in neonatal medicine meant many years of study of science-related subjects and a complete disconnection from the creative arts, which had been what she most enjoyed in school. Qualifying as a consultant has given her more freedom to re-discover her creative side and how this relates to her work as a doctor. She uses poetry and music to help her learn, reflect and process events at work.
Helen Sheppard worked as a neonatal midwife and stated to write poetry in her forties. She writes on the themes of birth, women and those whose voices are unheard,
and explores the themes and relationships around caring. Helen co-runs Satellite of Love Spoken word events which provides a platform for all poets and is published in These Are The Hands 2020, Tools of the Trade – Poems for New Doctors 2019.
https://www.writeoutloud.net/profiles/helensheppard and on twitter – HelenSheppard7 Instagram @HelenSheppard58
Support Helen here ko-fi.com/helensheppard0091
Robert Walton is a Bristol-based writer from Wales who, as one half of The Write Box, runs Chapter 1 creative writing group in Weston-super-Mare in association with Theatre Orchard. A cat-lover and dreadful saxophonist, he also teaches creative writing at Cardiff University. He’s a member of The Spoke poetry collective and his second poetry collection, ‘Sax Burglar Blues’, was published by Seren Books in 2017.
Robert (Bob) Walton www.robertwaltonwriter.com and https://www.facebook.com/thespokebristol/
Poetry events and sites
Bristol Tonic, Bristol’s monthly music and poetry party! https://www.facebook.com/BristolTonic/
Helpful site for poetry for beginners https://poetryschool.com
Theatre Orchard’s ‘Chapter One’ creative writing sessions and Speakeasy live poetry events https://www.facebook.com/pg/TheTheatreOrchard/events/ If you’d like more information please contact engage@theatreorchard.org.uk
Satellite of Love: https://www.facebook.com/SOLPoetryandSpokenWord/
Stories by patients at Grand Appeal https://www.grandappeal.org.uk/our-story/cots-tots/
Milk Poetry runs regular poetry sessions at the The Wardrobe Theatre, currently paused: https://www.facebook.com/MilkPoetry
The organisers
Culture Weston www.superculture.org.uk On Facebook, twitter and instagram @cultureweston
Theatre Orchard www.theatreorchard.org.uk. On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheTheatreOrchard/ and on twitter and instagram @theatreorchard
University Hospitals Bristol http://www.uhbristol.nhs.uk
For further information on NHS Arts and Culture Programmes please follow #HospitalArts
To find out more about creative health and wellbeing opportunities with UHBW NHS FT please email artsandculture@uhbw.nhs.uk
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Trust on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/uhbwNHS/ and on twitter @uhbwNHS
