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! William, founder of both the Forward Prizes for Poetry and National Poetry Day, began prescribing poetry by accident. The world has reopened and so has the Poetry Pharmacy: the powerful final instalment in the hugely beloved series It was a way to express what I was feeling and helped me make sense of my fear and confusion at that time.” she says, adding that the consultations harness the power that poetry has and make it personal. “The time and care given to the ‘patient’ is invaluable, the very best tonic, something real and meaningful, never more so than in our present circumstances.” ‘There is everything to look forward to’ He is the founder and Chairman of Forward Thinking a charity promoting a more inclusive peace process in the Middle East. William is also a trustee of Britdocs, the Forward Arts Foundation and Chairman of Streetsmart. For many years he was a member of the Arts Council and Chairman of its Lottery Committee.

Prized Poems: Twenty-five Years of the Forward Prizes | Forward Arts Foundation". www.forwardartsfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Government scientist admits March halt on community testing and tracing for coronavirus was due to limited capacity 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.The fourth session will focus on developing habits and practices for doing something creative every day. We’ll explore the challenges of working in imperfect conditions, defying inner critics, seeing and growing what’s good, and persevering with creative habits even when we feel like giving up. In the meantime, she is still sharing poems on social media that she feels will help soothe the difficult emotions we are feeling right now. The Emergency Poet

The Poetry Pharmacy is exactly what it states in the title. This short read contains poems from a range of authors, all dealing with different subjects, such as bereavement, obsessive love, self image and self acceptance and various others. It is not uncommon for people to cry during the sessions. When I myself first met Deborah almost three years ago, I was surprised to find myself moved. At that point I was about to start my first proper full-time job in London and feeling anxious about how my life was about to change. The brief answer is that I did a degree in creative writing in my forties, then did an MA a few years ago. I’ve had a poetry collection published, Dirty Laundry, which was me writing through a difficult – well, an abusive – relationship. And I worked with people with dementia for a few years, using poetry to assist communication. That’s how I ended up doing Emergency Poet: a combination of all of those things. And bloody-mindedness. The Poetry Pharmacy at the moment is mad, but normally I’m also pretty good at having a cup of tea in the garden, or going for a walk. What’s the last book you really loved?A bi-weekly newsletter for professional creatives: actors, artists, designers, directors, makers, musicians, performers, photographers, writers any anyone else who earns a living from what they create (or aspires to). William has published many books and is a regular broadcaster. His most recent books are The Poetry Pharmacy, published Sept 2017 by Penguin, and 100 Prized Poems – 25 years of the Forward Books, published by Forward in association with Faber & Faber 2016. There are those among us who are lilies. They may be destined only to last for a summer’s day, but they are, as Jonson says, the plant and flower of light. Their beauty is not constrained by their fragility, and nor is their impact diminished by its brevity. Their life, though it may be short, can still be perfect. In fact, it may be in part because they are with us for such a brief time that they manage to move us as they do.

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? Truly a marvellous collection … There is balm for the soul, fire for the belly, a cooling compress for the fevered brow, solace for the wounded, an arm around the lonely shoulder – the whole collection is a matchless compound of hug, tonic and kiss’ Stephen Fry Blimey! The biggest is getting married. No one tells you when you’re young that it’s the most important decision you will make in your life.In her forties, while recovering from an abusive relationship, she went to university to study creative writing, expressing her pain in poems that were eventually published in a collection, Dirty Laundry. 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. Rhiannon Hooson is a Welsh poet, author and editor. She has won major awards for her work, including an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors, and her first book, The Other City , was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award. In the last few years, she has been a Literature Wales bursary recipient, a Hay Festival Writer at Work, poetry editor of Creative Countryside magazine, and the judge of the PENfro festival poetry competition. She has a PhD in poetry from the University of Lancaster, and spent time living and working in Cumbria and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, before settling in the Welsh marches. Goliat , her second collection, is out now from Seren. 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. 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.

This week we'll focus on listening to poetry and on learning poems by heart. We'll dip into the slam scene, exploring different styles of performance poetry and consider ways of borrowing creative inspiration from others.

The Forwards are among the world’s most coveted poetry honours. They have been awarded annually since 1992 for the Best Collection, Best First Collection and Best Single Poem published in Britain and Ireland, and the roster of winning, shortlisted and highly commended poets regularly juxtaposes familiar canonical names with fresh voices. Founder of the Forward Prize for Poetry and National Poetry Day, William Sieghart welcomes you into his Poetry Pharmacy where he serves up poetic prescriptions to soothe the soul. William Sieghart prescribes poetry to people for the mood or problem they are facing, this is a collection of some of his most commonly prescribed ones. A tastefully renovated former ironmonger’s, this shop and cafe has kept many features and added so much more! The window displays are eye-catching and frequently changed with a variety of interesting artefacts as well as books. You will be welcomed at the Poetry Pharmacy and ushered upstairs to the treatment room. Settle on the chaise for a gentle consultation with Deborah, and afterwards retire to the dispensary café with your prescribed poems for tea or coffee.