Poetry

Love
idea
There’s no good reason to love each other – and that’s a relief
Loving is an unreasonable decision (we are all extremely unpleasant little beasts) and that’s what allows it to survive
by John Kaag

Transcendent experience
idea
Our days are both rough and slippery. Hope brings traction
I want to defend and buoy hope – it’s a fragile, quirky thing, but it has the power to help us act in the face of finitude
by John Lysaker

Poetry
guide
How to write a love poem
Flirtatious texts are soon forgotten. Learn to express your feelings in a beautiful way that will make a lasting impression
by Dan Simpson

Poetry
film
The unseen lives of others take centre stage in this surreal poetry adaptation
Directed by Michelle Kranot and Uri Kranot

Poetry
idea
Why spoken word poetry is so much more than a poetry reading
As poetry returns to its roots as a performance art, it’s providing many with a powerful source of healing and community
by Erica Fletcher

Stories and literature
idea
Reading books is not just a pleasure: it helps our minds to heal
Through my own struggles and in teaching bibliotherapy to students, I know that books can help to heal minds and hearts
by Peter Leyland

Stories and literature
guide
How to gain more from your reading
There’s more to words than meets the eye. Deepen your appreciation of literature through the art of slow, attentive reading
by Robert DiYanni

Poetry
film
Enter a dreamy French surrealist poem, where love and reality never quite touch
Directed by Emma Vakarelova

Poetry
idea
A conversation with my spider Maman and Louise Bourgeois
Woman made of braided steel, monster I call Maman: why am I so scared of you? An imagined conversation with Louise Bourgeois
by Pascale Petit

Poetry
idea
The long poem is just right for our confounding, fractured age
The long poem is the right literary form for the unmanageable scale, the messy confusion and the epic ambivalence of our age
by Tess Somervell

Poetry
film
Sail through Shakespeare’s melancholic soliloquy on life’s seven stages
Directed by Jérémie Balais and Jeffig Le Bars