wait then just a little while longer
Hello and welcome to our newsletter.
Here in Bishop’s Castle, we’re lucky enough to have the most beautiful pub garden at The Castle Hotel, right at the top of the hill, with far-reaching views across the Shropshire Hills and into Wales. We love this season in the bookshop. On warm Friday evenings, after closing up, we sometimes wander over together for a glass of Pimm’s, sit out on the grass, and get to know one another a little better outside the rhythms of work.

It’s those sorts of moments that have led us to think more about attention, distraction, and the increasingly radical act of simply being properly present with one another and we’ve begun to notice that some of the things we value most here at the Poetry Pharmacy are part of a wider quiet revolution happening around the idea of putting our phones away for a while and returning to slower, more human ways of being together. 

Not because technology is bad, or because anyone seriously wants to retreat from modern life, but because many of us have a growing sense that something important is being lost when so much of our lives is lived head bowed to a screen.

The small unexpected moments matter. Conversations with strangers, eye contact, sitting quietly alongside other people and the possibility that someone you happen to speak to might become a friend. More and more, we sense that our dependence on phones is changing not only how we spend our time, but how we relate to one another, and perhaps even how well we practise the ordinary social skills that make us human. 

Across Europe and beyond, projects such as The Offline Club are springing up around the simple idea of gathering people together for shared reading, conversation, games, writing, music and human company, all without the constant pull of screens. A Guardian article about the surprising relief and intimacy people feel once phones disappear is well worth a read.
At the Poetry Pharmacy, we realised recently that this is something we’ve quietly been doing all along.
From Laurie Bolger’s wonderful Poetry Breakfast gatherings, or Toby Campion's Evening Socials in Oxford Street, to readings and talks in York, to poetry walks, workshops, conversations and chance encounters in Bishop’s Castle, so much of what we care about is built around helping people connect with one another in real life.

Even the smallest exchanges matter to us. We encourage our Poetry Pharmacists to ask genuine questions, recommend books thoughtfully, listen properly, and offer the kind of warm, old-fashioned human interaction that can feel increasingly rare. People often tell us they leave our shops feeling calmer than when they arrived. We don’t think that’s only about the books, we think it’s also about attention. About feeling noticed, properly welcomed and spoken to kindly.

That’s one reason we’re so excited to begin working with The Offline Project in Oxford Street over the coming months, exploring new ways to create spaces for conversation, reading, playfulness and genuine presence.

Perhaps poetry has always offered a small antidote to speed and distraction. It asks us to slow down and to notice things, and to listen really carefully. It asks us to sit with uncertainty for a moment instead of instantly escaping it.

And perhaps that now feels a little radical.

Some related articles that might interest you:
Peace 
There is only silence
On the mountain tops
Among the tips of the trees
You perceive barely a breath
Even the birds in the forest
Keep still and are silent
Wait then
Just a little while longer
And you too
will find peace at last.

   J. W. Von Goethe                                                
 

 


We also recommend a dose of Touch Grass -  Remedies for restless souls, silent struggles & stimulants for spontaneous acts of courage
A prescription for a modern malaise. Administer daily under open sky. Restores calm, confidence, and the courage to act.

 * All profits from this edition support The Chimo Trust, helping young people access creative and therapeutic opportunities that nurture mental wellbeing.

 

From the Dispensary Shelves this week


In the city of Cork, a derelict Victorian mental hospital is being converted into modern apartments. One passerby has always flinched as she passes the place. Had her birth occurred in another decade, she too might have lived within those walls. Now, she notices a sign: FOR SALE. It is the first of many signs. Following them, she finds herself drawn into an irresistible river of forgotten voices, those of the women who knew this place best: insistent, vivid and true. They murmur from archives and old records; they whisper from stairwells and walls. Among them – and in one figure in particular - she may find meaning, solace, rage; her own salvation, perhaps, or her own vanishing?

A work of sublime intensity and tenderness, Said the Dead breaks the boundaries between worlds — past and present, imagined and real — to make something lasting and new: an experience full of danger, full of love and full of truth.

We loved Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s last book, A Ghost in the Throat, which became one of those quiet word-of-mouth bestsellers that booksellers adore passing from hand to hand. We couldn’t wait to read this new one, and are delighted to have a small number of indie exclusive signed hardbacks with beautiful sprayed edges available while stocks last.

Signed by the author, with sprayed edges - Hardback Free bookmark included (while stocks last).

Events
Click the links to take you directly to events in 
York, Bishop's Castle, Oxford Street and Online
Jen Feroze's Bespoke Poetry
Sunday 24th May, 28th June, 12th July 
12-6pm, Oxford Street Drop in 
 
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.

The Way the Water Held Me: Talk and Reading
Wednesday 27th May, 7pm Coney Street, York
 
Join Forward-nominated poet Catherine Redford for this talk and reading from her debut poetry collection, The Way the Water Held Me. A mesmeric plunge into the caring, grief, loss, and love experienced by a young widow, The Way the Water Held Me has been described by Fiona Benson as 'a gorgeous wound and wonder of a book' and by Liz Berry as 'a beautiful, heartbreaking book that charts deepest grief and deepest love'.

A Magma Selected Poet, Catherine’s work has also been published in Under the Radar, Propel, New Welsh Reader, and Lighthouse. She is an editor at Dust Poetry magazine, a Nine Arches Press Dynamo Poet, and a Writing West Midlands Room 204 Writer. 

Creative Writing Breakfast Club     
Fridays - June 5th, July 10th & August 7th - 10 to 11.30am   Oxford Street, London
 
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.All stationery and tea are provided - just bring yourself and your imagination. Newbies very welcome; no experience needed!

There You Are: Launch and Reading with Patrick Lodge and Guests
Friday 5th June, 7-8pm  Coney Street, York

Join Yorkshire poet Patrick Lodge at the launch of 'There You Are', his fourth poetry collection with Valley Press.

Patrick is a much-published and prize-winning poet and this latest collection mines his Irish and Welsh roots and his travels in an exploration of who he was, who he may be and where he might be at home.

From climate crisis, Irish quays and Hebridean beaches to neolithic cairns, Welsh chapels, Irish sculpture, surfers, Greek islands and ending with a Tarot- based love poem in sonnets. 'There You Are' moves through myth, history and ritual with poems characterised by Patrick's trademark sensuous delight in words and images.

Patrick will be joined on the evening by Jo Brandon and Ian Parks.
Wednesday 10th June, 7-9pm Online

Join Holly Winter-Hughes (How to Leave a Body, Verve) as she gently guides you through the process of using writing as a way to connect with ourselves and our embodied stories. Looking at poems that explore themes of embodiment, as well as tapping into our own somatic experiences to enrich our work.

Holly used poetry to reconnect with her body after years of dissociation and embodied trauma. She is passionate about bringing the stories held in our bodies to the light, finding fresh way to tell them to deepen personal and community connection.

In this celebration of our bodies and our stories, we’ll bring our somatic experiences into our work, for more visceral, sensuous and engaging writing. This series is all about connection, healing and community.

Each session will focus on autonomy and only going as deep as you wish in your own writing. You will be encouraged and supported in taking ownership of your words.

You are welcome to return each session to build on your embodied experiences, but each session will also welcome newcomers.
Saturday 13th June, 10-11am The Lab, Bishops Castle

Join Anna Dreda, former proprietor of the magical Wenlock Books, for her seasonal Poetry Pharmacy Poetry Breakfast! Read, share and listen to your favourite poems on the theme: ‘What The Roses Said To Me’ by Lahab Assef Al-Jundi.

Bring your favourite poems* on roses, midsummer, long days, short nights, Dawn chorus - whatever is sparked for you by this time in the year when nature is so abundantly beautiful and our hearts sing

We’ll read to each other over coffee and croissants in the bright and airy space of the Poetry Pharmacy lab, and if you want to come and ‘just’ listen, that’s perfect, too.

* published poems only please.
Friday 19th June, 7-8pm Coney Street, York

Join award-winning poets Tahmina Ali, Bob Beagrie and Harry Man for a special evening of conversation presented in partnership with the Royal Literary Fund.

Part of a series of eight events bringing together poets, playwrights, novelists and screenwriters from across Northern England, this thoughtful discussion will explore poetry’s lasting power — how poems can comfort, why certain lines remain with us, and whether poetry can quietly alter the course of a life.

Together, the poets will reflect on how readers encounter transformation through poetry, and on the ways the artform has shaped their own lives. Drawing from the rich archive of the Royal Literary Fund, each writer will revisit the words of some of the country’s most celebrated poets, using them as a starting point for a wider conversation about poetry’s enduring impact.

All are warmly welcome.

June Writing Social: with the Poetry Pharmacy & verse
Tuesday 30th June, 6:30-8pm   Oxford Street, London
A 90-minute writing session with award winning poet and playwright Toby Campion. All levels of experience welcome!
Forget overthinking, forget perfectionism: through a mix of reading, group discussion and curated writing exercises, you will get new poems written and hopefully make some new writing pals along the way. If you're looking for inspiration, motivation and a friendly place to start new writing, sign up today!
Friday June 26th 7-8:30pm The Lab, Bishops Castle

Join poet Chrys Salt and musician Richard Ingham for an evening exploring the richness and complexity of North East India.

Rooted in Chrys Salt’s highly regarded collection The Punkawallah’s Rope, and born from her performance at the Kolkata Book Fair, as well as an immersive month spent in Kolkata and North East India, The Punkawallah’s Rope explores the vibrant textures, voices, and contradictions of a continent that is both dazzling and daunting.

Through layered poems and haunting instrumentals - played on a range of Indian instruments, including the aludu, bansuri and gopi yantra, by international musician and saxophonist Richard Ingham - the performance poses the question:

How can a middle-class white woman begin to understand and engage with this most complex and challenging of continents?
Thursday July 2nd 6.30-7:30pm  Oxford Street

Join us to raise a glass to celebrate the launch of Sarah Salway's latest collection, The Hands of a Gardener. A collection which conjures up the magic of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown the man responsible for reshaping the English landscape as we still know it today. It is a story of ambition, social change, and many influential women previously hidden from history.

Sarah Salway is a novelist, poet and short-story writer whose work is rooted in gardens and the natural world. Sarah grew up on a Cambridgeshire herb farm, and her writing has appeared in public parks and gardens, as well as in journals and books. Her previous collection, Learning Springsteen on my Language App, was the joint winner of the Geoff Stevens Memorial Prize.

A former Canterbury Laureate, Sarah trained as a journalist at the London College of Fashion and studied Garden History at Birkbeck, University of London. She currently runs regular workshops on writing and reading for the Royal Literary Fund.
Poetry Pharmacy presents: Kim Moore and guests
Saturday 4th July, 7-8.30pm The Lab, Bishops Castle
 
Join us for this special poetry showcase hosted by Pat Edwards, featuring guest poet Kim Moore, with readings from Shropshire poets Kate Innes and Sarah Holland.

Kim Moore’s forthcoming collection The House of Broken Things will be published by Corsair in May 2026. Her second collection All the Men I Never Married (Seren, 2021) won the 2022 Forward Prize for Best Collection.
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