Many thanks to Louise Kenward for interviewing me for a piece published today on the BMJ Medical Humanities Blog in which we talk about the new extended version of Breastless (published at Life Writing Projects) and about creativity when facing surgery. Louise Kenward is a visual artist based in East Sussex. She was awarded an MA with… Continue reading Interview for BMJ Medical Humanities Blog
It's past mid-September. Summer is a mirage behind us. Back there – over my shoulder – are silvery skies, long walks by the sea and light evenings with family and friends. Autumn brings harvests, and fresh starts. Earlier this year I wrote two reflective essays about breast cancer in my family and about becoming breastless,… Continue reading ‘Life Writing Projects’, harvests and dreams
http://www.kent.ac.uk/english/research/conferences/artistsbooks.html This talk/article has also been posted on the BMJ Medical Humanities blog. I had been so looking forward to this wonderful symposium devised, designed and immaculately planned by Stella Bolaki, and to seeing the exhibition of Martha Hall's and other book artists' work – which is still on until 14 August (Prescriptions Beaney House of… Continue reading Illustrated talk for University of Kent symposium on Artists’ Books and the Medical Humanities on 21st April 2016
‘The Ethics of Display: exhibiting vulnerable bodies' At the Centre for the History of Medicine, the University of Warwick, 21 March 2016 When I signed up for this symposium I was still thinking about the tricky questions thrown up by Lucy Lyons’ ‘Drawing Parallels’ workshop at UCL last year. The experience of that day spent trying… Continue reading Bodies on show
What a privilege to be invited to take part in StAnza 2016, the 19th annual poetry festival in St Andrews. Heartfelt thanks to Eleanor Livingstone and to all the members of the team who every year organise and programme this outstanding festival. StAnza extends such a warm welcome to everyone who attends – it really… Continue reading StAnza 2016 – a festive table
I am most grateful to Philip Scibilia – who heads up the Medical Humanities programme – and to Elizabeth Fehsenfeld for their invitation to speak last week and for their enthusiastic welcome and generous hospitality. Thank you to Tara Jenner for the warm introduction. I was delighted to meet Sean Nevin who is Director of… Continue reading An evening at Drew University’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies on the 21st of September 2015
'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… Continue reading Touching the Core
I liked the look of this conference as soon as I saw the call for papers from Drew University’s Caspersen School of Graduate Studies (based in Madison, New Jersey). This was to be an interdisciplinary gathering, with the Medical Humanities School at Drew interested in ‘a conversation about the importance and conceptual scope of the… Continue reading Back from Transatlantic Connections 2 – a Drew University conference in Ireland
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/
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… Continue reading Fifth International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine: 10 May, 2014
Clare Best 