Newsletter

sail through this to that
Happy New Year from all of us at the Poetry PharmacyDear Friends,As the year turns, we wanted to pause and send you our heartfelt thanks for being part of the Poetry Pharmacy world.This past year has been a challenging one for many small businesses, and we have been so grateful to you for showing up. Grateful to those of you that came to events, readings and open mics, that read our newsletters, shared poems and passed on kind words. You shared our posts, ordered from our website, left thoughtful reviews, sent... Read more...
they clearly flew instead of fell
  (Photo shows poetry in the waiting room St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, Chest & Allergy Clinic)  Please Help Us to Bring Poetry to the High Street Dear Friends, As we step into a new year, with all its change, hope and possibility, I wanted to write to you about a new chapter for the Poetry Pharmacy. This spring, we will open a new shop in York, bringing poetry and the idea of words for wellbeing to a busy city street and giving it a permanent home there. It is something we have... Read more...
round suns wintering on the table
Happy Christmas from all of us at the Poetry Pharmacy At this time of year, when the days are at their darkest and the world can feel heavy with difficult news, we find ourselves returning to the small, steady things that endure. Lights lit against the dark, kindness, the simple act of gathering, remembering, and being hopeful together. Across cultures and faiths, people mark this season with light; a candle, a lamp, a star in the window as a way of saying we are still here, and we still care for one... Read more...
singing, dancing, to drive the dark away
people singing, dancing, to drive the dark away(Susan Cooper, “The Shortest Day”)In Bishop’s Castle we had the great switch on of the Christmas lights, tractors draped in fairy lights rumbling past in a joyful procession, lanterns glowing, live music floating through the streets and fireworks were launched above our tiny town. The primary school children sang carols, we drank mulled wine and friends hugged. Everyone mucked in. It was all glitter and goodwill in the very best small town way.And how different it might seem from our sister Poetry Pharmacy in Oxford... Read more...
their wings are bright windows
Breath, Calm, and a New Collaboration with St Mary’s HospitalAs the year draws in and the light fades towards winter, we have been thinking a great deal about breath. The breath that carries our words. The breath that steadies us in moments of anxiety. The breath that connects us to our bodies when life feels tight in the chest.The Poetry Pharmacy has been working with St Mary's Hospital chest & allergy clinic, Imperial College NHS Trust in Paddington, to bring four carefully chosen poems into the waiting room of the Chest Clinic. These... Read more...
white into the icy air
Extract from Winter MorningBut if I pause as I do now,and watch the streetlights outside flashingoff one by one like old men blinking theircloudy eyes, if I listen to my tired neighborsslamming car doors hard against the morningand see the steaming coffee in their mugskissing chapped lips as they sip andexhale each of their worries white intothe icy air around their faces—then I canremember this one life is a gift each of uswas handed and told to open: Untie the bowand tear off the paper, look insideand be grateful for whatever... Read more...
wonder upon wonder
Welcome to the Poetry Pharmacy's newsletter! Here you will find upcoming events, new and featured books, poems, prescriptions, and panaceas. A Welcome Above Oxford StreetThis week, we’re shining a light on our Poetry Pharmacy on Oxford Street, a little sanctuary perched above the busiest street in London.At Christmas, London feels especially magical, with its lights, bustle, and the joy of finding just the right thing for someone you love. One of the quiet strengths of our space is the people in it: our staff are all poets, kind listeners who know... Read more...
I love the smell of oranges best
Poetry Across BordersThis week we're writing to you from the International Book Fair in Sharjah, as guests of the Sharjah Book Authority. Our special thanks go to our new good friends Moza Al Rand and Mohammad Al Houli, with whom we have been working these last few months and to their team for the warm welcome and friendship. We've been enjoying so many wonderful and exciting conversations from all over the world, and have been reminded of how literature and poetry are so often about the opening of doors, crossing borders of language,... Read more...
then the winter happens, like a secret
Here in Shropshire, the mornings are crisp, the leaves a rich golden hue, and the low autumn sun still spills warmth across the fields and woodland. Yet the nights are drawing in, and we can feel the gentle, inevitable shift toward winter. Winter offers us a necessary pause - rather than something to endure, we see it as an invitation: to rest, to reflect, and to gather strength. It’s a time to slow down, turn inward, and nurture our mind and creative selves through the darker months.This time of retreat can provide ideal... Read more...
a sense of something moving to and fro
  I saw the gooseflesh on my skin. I did not know what made it. I was not cold. Had a ghost passed over? No, it was the poetry. Sylvia PlathDear Patient, As clocks prepare to slip backwards, and as the year wanes and the air thickens with mists and darker evenings, our Poison Cabinet creaks open once more. Inside lie our darkest preparations — bottled not for the faint of heart, but for those who understand that a touch of venom may sometimes heal.CURSES & MALEDICTIONSFor when civility fails, verse to lay waste to deceit and... Read more...
wherein your poetry pharmacists share their news
Welcome to the Poetry Pharmacy's newsletter! Here you will find upcoming events, new and featured books, poems, prescriptions, and panaceas. Extraordinary News from The Poetry PharmacyDearest Friends, Patients, and All Seekers of Literary Medicines,We'd love to share our news that the Poetry Pharmacy is preparing to open its third establishment, in York City Centre, early in the New Year! Bottles are being labelled, shelves dusted, and prescriptions for the spirit carefully compounded. Our poetic apothecaries are at work readying themselves to bring comfort, courage, and connection to a new community of readers... Read more...
running along the hedge and into the earth
Message in a bottle - for our US customersRoyal Mail now sorts out U.S. customs duties before your parcel even leaves the UK Strong-limbed like the oak. Low-slung belly sweeping the woodland floor. In the ink-black,  coal-black night I am a collection of shades. A liquid shadow, flowing between the trees. Just beyond your vision. Well beyond your imagination.            Eileen AndersonAs the nights draw in, we turn to the darker shades of poetry — where mystery, memory, and resilience meet.We're delighted to tell you about Badgered, a new... Read more...