The programme for this year’s Poetry and Medicine Symposium on Saturday 10 May (to be held at The Royal Society of Medicine in Wimpole Street) looks rich and varied, with talks ranging from Michael Hulse on ‘The Romantic ego in medical poetry’ to David Francis on ‘Surgical metaphor in the poetry of Sylvia Plath’, from Dean…
Author: Clare Best
I am Clare Best – poet, writer, librettist, teacher of creative writing.
My first career was as a fine bookbinder. I've also worked as a bookseller, and for many years as an editor.
Poetry publications: Treasure Ground (HappenStance 2009), Excisions (Waterloo Press 2011), Breastless (Pighog Press 2011), CELL (Frogmore Press 2015), Springlines (Little Toller 2017), Each Other (Waterloo Press 2019), End of Season / Fine di stagione (Frogmore Press 2022), Beyond the Gate (Worple Press, 2023).
Memoir: The Missing List (Linen Press 2018).
Bloggin’ the Blog
I’ve recently written a couple of linked pieces for the BMJ Medical Humanities Blog, about cutting and editing, scars and memories. Thank you to the editor, Deborah Bowman, for inviting me to contribute. The pieces are online here: http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2014/04/13/guest-post-by-poet-and-writer-clare-best-on-cutting-and-editing-and-scars-and-memories/ http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2014/04/21/guest-blog-post-by-poet-and-writer-clare-best-part-2-on-scars-and-memories/
Springlines quiz… the answers!
1. C On average each of us uses 150 litres of water a day. 2. B A floush-hole is a hole which receives waste water from a mill-pond. 3. B It was the River Tillingham that provided water power to operate the bellows of an iron works used to make cannons for the Royal Navy…
Apples, wires and being alone
I returned home yesterday from Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in Oxfordshire. I think I’ll be going there again. What a privilege it is to be able to abandon routines, even for a few days. I’ve done a couple of terrific Arvon courses over the years (one was when I was putting together my first full collection,…
Seven-year itch
I can’t quite believe I’m now seven years post-op. What is it about seven years? Some urban myth that every single cell in the body has renewed itself in that time (skin is quick to renew itself in seven days, bones take longer – several to seven years, and it seems most other organs are…
Medical Humanities galore!
This past week has been a rich time. I went to Cheltenham for two days of Medicine Unboxed over the weekend, and on Monday I spent an evening at St George’s, University of London, speaking at the first event in their new series ‘The Art of Medicine’. I’m feeling increasingly comfortable and settled in this…
‘Attentive Writers’: Healthcare, Authorship, and Authority
A conference hosted by the Medical Humanities Research Centre, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow, 23-25 August 2013 Each time I walked between my hotel and the Sir Charles Wilson Building where the conference was held, I passed a sign to Oakfield Avenue. The juxtaposition of disciplines on the sign seemed spot on: Philosophy…
Quiz: how much do you know about water in Sussex?
1. On average, how much water do you think each of us uses every day? A) 125 litres B) 87 litres C) 150 litres D) 60 litres 2. What does the Sussex dialect word ‘floush-hole’ mean? A) a hole in the ground, dug for use as a latrine B) a hole which receives the waste…
After the big swim…
I swam the 5 km on 27 April in two hours and seventeen minutes. It was satisfying to finish, I didn’t really mind about the time! And I raised £500 for Marie Curie Cancer Care. Job well done. To be honest, I didn’t much enjoy the first 150 lengths because there were too many swimmers…
Clare Best 