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William Wardlaw Laing | 'A Fallow Field'
Poetry from the Fallow Space
Spring is usually the season when we are encouraged to plant, or to begin a project, to produce something, or clear something out. But poets know that creativity does not always grow in the busiest soil. Sometimes the most necessary thing is to allow a little space, to pause and let the mind wander, to lie fallow.
Psychoanalyst Masud Khan used the phrase “fallow time” to describe the quiet intervals that allow imagination to replenish itself. In poetry, these are often the moments when something unexpected begins to stir.
This April we are delighted to host Poet, Creative Facilitator and Performer Becky Cherriman for a new online course exploring the creative possibilities of fallowness. Poetry from the Fallow Space is a gentle five-week workshop series where participants will read poems together, explore prompts and reflective exercises, and write new work inspired by stillness, quiet places and the natural cycles of rest and renewal.
The course also includes a one-to-one feedback session with Becky and an informal online reading at the end of the series where participants can share work from the harvest of the course.
If you feel the need for a little breathing space in your creative life, this might be just the right moment to step back, lie fallow, and see what begins to grow.
Poetry from the Fallow Space runs online from 13 April to 1 June.
Find out more and book tickets →
And if creativity sometimes arrives not in stillness but in sleep, writer, poet and psychotherapist Leah Larwood will lead Dream Weaving: How to Use Lucidity for Creative Purposes, a one-off online workshop exploring how lucid dreaming can spark ideas for poems and other creative projects. Leah will introduce some of the techniques she used while writing her dream-inspired poetry collection Oneironaut.
Two different routes into creativity perhaps, but both invite us to step outside the usual rhythms of productivity and see what the imagination might reveal.
Find out more and book tickets →
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A New Collaboration: Antidote to the Ordinary
For the encouragement of Bold Choices, to Summon Confidence & Charm for the Common Day
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by. Robert Frost
We love working on collaborations and exploring unexpected ways that poetry can meet the wider world. Our latest is a new bottle of Poetry Pills: Antidote to the Ordinary, created with the fashion brand UOOYAA.
Inside the bottle are poetic fragments chosen as little reminders that the ordinary day can hold flashes of imagination, beauty and surprise.
You can get hold of your own bottle here
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York: One Week In
After our first week of trading in York we are feeling full of spring joy and gratitude. Our wonderful new team have been thrown in at the deep end and have met it with warmth, calm and enthusiasm.
One of the surprises for us has been experiencing passing trade for the first time in any significant way. In Bishop’s Castle, on a quiet border town high street, people usually have to make a deliberate journey to find us. And although Oxford Street is the busiest street in the world, being tucked away on the first floor means visitors often need to know we are there and seek us out.
York is different. Many people are simply wandering along Coney Street and discovering us by chance. At least half the people coming through the door have never heard of Poetry Pharmacy before and yet they are immediately drawn in, browsing the remedies and books and buying some poetry.
“Poetry matters. People have come to these places and said, ‘Wow, this is amazing! Take this thing that matters and contextualise it so people can engage with it. Put it in a place that is playful and engaging.’” James Sheard from a generous article by Greg Freeman Write Out Loud
We are deeply grateful to you, dear reader, for being part of this journey. Like many small independent ventures we are stretched thin and cash flow is sometimes a challenge as we grow. But with your support we keep moving forward in our small mission to make poetry part of everyday life.
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Let your creativity lead the way in this safe and
supportive free flow creative writing session
Start your morning with a burst of creativity at the Poetry Pharmacy London! Join poet Laurie Bolger for a relaxed, playful session of free flow writing in our lush first-floor space on Oxford Street. Tea, stationery, and warm vibes are provided—just bring yourself and your imagination. No experience needed, newbies welcome, and spaces are limited!
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Write, reflect and connect in this
warm workshop exploring courage
How might we welcome in 2026 with some courage? Katie from the Poetry Pharmacy team has been asking herself this, and invites you to join her for Writing with Courage: a restorative creative writing workshop.
Writing with Courage is a creative writing workshop designed and hosted by Katie Dunstan, in collaboration with The Poetry Pharmacy. Over 90 minutes we’ll be warming ourselves up to get writing, sharing our own experiences of courage and responding to some creative writing prompts.
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Spend the night in the Poetry Pharmacy!
Join poet Jo Bell and artist Bean Sawyer for an unforgettable all-night poetry workshop that blends writing with visual art and creative camaraderie. The Poetry Pharmacy will become our poetry snug for the evening, with midnight treats, warm drinks, and comfortable spots to snooze.
Throughout the night, Jo will guide you through poetic prompts, while Bean offers foraged wordplay and hands-on crafting. There will also be space for quiet reflection, storytelling, and dreaming.
Whether you're long-established or poetry-curious, expect laughter, insight, and a flurry of inspiration. Come with a notebook, leave with a constellation of new ideas, connections, and memories of a dawn filled with potential.
10pm–7am, with time for snoozing and resting. Spaces are limited, so book early.
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Jen is an award-winning poet and creative copywriter who transforms feelings, memories and ideas into heartfelt, personalised poetry. At her regular drop in events at the Poetry Pharmacy on Oxford Street, she crafts bespoke poems live on her trusty vintage typewriter, capturing individual stories and emotions and turning them into unique keepsakes.
“Jen is an exceptionally talented writer. Her poetry conjures such vivid images that transport you somewhere else, and the way she puts words together is a beautiful art in itself.” Ceri, Poem recipient
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Wild Words: Spring, with Rhiannon Hooson
Throughout April: Sign up by 1 April
Bright green leaves still new to the air and dark grey clouds banked up behind the hill.
In the wood, anemones are opening like a secret. Spring stars rattle calls out of the owls all night,
and the air is strung with the smell of wild garlic and its promise of plenty.
Rhiannon's Wild Words are low pressure writing courses which help you ground your creativity in the turning year, and help you build a sustainable, daily creative habit. The courses are built on the philosophy that creativity should be organic, plentiful, and joyful.
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As a special online event for International Lucid Dreaming Day, this workshop is perfect for creatives: poets, writers, artists, and anyone else who is interested in learning about how to use lucid dreaming for creative purposes.
In this introductory workshop, you’ll learn the basics of lucid dreaming and
how it can be used to generate ideas for poems and other creative projects.
You’ll explore the subject through a blend of teaching, writing exercises, reflective practices, discussion and poetry, in a supportive and imaginative space.
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Join award winning poet Caroline Smith to discover how the mundane & the life critical can be the raw materials for creativity. The snatched fragment of time, the poignant, the humorous. How can experience be caught and transfigured.
We will explore poetry of consolation and poetry of warning: of care for the self and family and care for our communities and world. Why does a poem work, why does it fail, when does the tender become sentimental, a passionate cause become ‘a design on others.’
Using sources, inspirations and prompts we will generate new poems and write in unexpected ways - exploring passion and heartbreak, care we have received, care we have given, poetry that steps forward and poetry that lets go.
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To Write the Unruly Body Kate Noakes presents a number of approaches and exercises for writing about illness, dis-ease and disease.
Deriving from her new book, Sublime Lungs, the writing of which saw her explore diverse images and metaphors to explain and celebrate her chronic asthma, she invites you to the Poetry Pharmacy for a morning of reflection and expression, and occasional light-heartedness. Y
ou should leave with notes and ideas for poems and short pieces of writing related to these medical humanities topics, and with luck at least one new draft poem. There will be an opportunity to share your work, but absolutely no pressure to do so.
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After the March 2026 release of impressionist Alistair McGowan’s second poetry collection Like Never Before, we are delighted to announce this exclusive Bishop’s Castle reading from the book. Alistair will also offer the opportunity for an audience Q&A after the reading.
This show is an exclusive performance of Alistair's poems, separate from his 3-in-1 piano and poetry performance tour. This is Alistair - like never before - commenting on a world that is accelerating "like never before".
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Join poet Jonathan Davidson for a Poetry Walk starting and finishing at The Poetry Pharmacy Lab in Bishop's Castle.
Using a circular route, we will stroll along small roads and footpaths, stopping now and then to hear some poems read aloud in the open air. Copies of poems – by various carefully selected poets – will be provided, although participants are welcome to bring along short poems of their own to share.
While the walk will only be a few kilometres and therefore not too strenuous, it will involve stiles and quite possibly mud, so participants will be asked to bring along suitable footwear and clothing. We’ll walk at the pace of the slowest, the better to chat and enjoy the views. The ticket includes a drink and cake at journey’s end and numbers will be limited to 12 participants.
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