I spent Saturday drawing. The idea of drawing holds cosy memories of the art room at school where I loved going but felt guilty because I should have been studying. So why was I outside my comfort zone on Saturday? Partly because I hadn’t put pencil to paper in decades (other than to write) but…
Category: Body
Touching the Core
‘If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.’ Gospel of St Thomas I thoroughly enjoyed the Self-portrait without Breasts event at Kings College London on February 24th. A huge…
The work of waiting
‘The more Susan waited, the more the doorbell didn’t ring. Or the phone.’ Douglas Adams – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency I’ve always liked Advent – the idea of waiting by preparing. Active waiting. Years ago, when I was waiting and hoping for a baby, I bought a handmade crib in a hilltop town in Provence….
The 5th International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine: a few thoughts
Here’s a link to a short piece I’ve written about the Symposium on 10 May, for the BMJ Medical Humanities blog. http://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2014/05/17/5th-international-symposium-on-poetry-and-medicine-at-the-royal-society-of-medicine-wimpole-street-london-on-saturday-10-may-2014/
Fifth International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine: 10 May, 2014
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…
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/
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…
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 