"Here, the creative, the playful, the serious and the intimate, all intersect and interact."
This article was first published in The Alchemy Spoon, 2023
I really welcome this opportunity to speak about the ethos behind the setting up of the Poetry Pharmacy. It can seem, I think, a bit of a crazy idea! We all know that poetry doesn’t sell and we know about the death of the High Street, so it has seemed to many (mostly my family members) an act of extreme foolhardiness. It has actually been very much a considered project and process.
For those of you who don’t know what it is, we are situated on the Shropshire/ Welsh border, in the pretty little town of Bishop’s Castle. I describe it as ‘the world’s first walk-in poetry pharmacy’. It’s a beautiful Victorian shop with original shelves and mahogany counter, originally an iron-mongers, filled with books of poetry, philosophy, psychology, and well-being, as well as ‘pills’ and other literary gifts and products, to address emotional issues or for self-care.
The bookshop is laid out unusually; into sections such as ‘Talking to Grief’, ‘Be Alive Every Minute of Your Life’ and ‘Matters of the Heart’ and the poetry is not generally displayed by A-Z according to poet (although we do have a space for that as well), but for example, Jacqueline Saphra’s ‘All My Mad Mothers’ is with other books on motherhood, or Julia Darling is located amongst books concerning ill-health. A Poetry Pharmacist (ie me), will be able to prescribe suitable remedies, and you will also be able to visit the Dispensary Cafe to be prescribed coffees, teas and cakes to lift the spirits. There’s also a workshop and performance space, an extensive and largely donated poetry reference library where writers can come to find a space for quiet writing and reading and one-to-one consultations offering Poetry on Prescription by appointment.
The Poetry Pharmacy is meant to lure people in. It is for both the passer-by who may be terrified of poetry, in fact it is largely for them, as well as for those of us who write and read poetry regularly. It’s important to have a coffee shop; people drift in for a coffee, and unroll The Poem of the Day from the table, read the poetry written on the walls, and maybe they will wander around the shop. They don’t need to know what they are looking for; the poetry sits alongside other books on nature, or books for coping with the stresses of the everyday or friendship. We have a little room at the back full of gorgeous children’s picture books, anthologies, books on nature and philosophy. They often buy some. The idea seems to work.
It is important to me that this is a physical space; it is a place, a social space, a ‘third space. The third space is a place where ‘the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home (first place) and the workplace (second place). Examples of third places include churches, cafes, clubs, public libraries, bookstores or parks. In his influential book The Great Good Place (1989), Ray Oldenburg argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.’ Wikipedia
Here, the creative, the playful, the serious and the intimate, all intersect and interact. Someone may enter this space with an underlying difficulty or problem, whether it’s in their own writing, or maybe that they are looking for a book that addresses their grief at the death of a loved one, or they just need a cup of coffee and some cake... It seems to me to be a strange space but a safe space; people seem to open up, talk at the till about the best poem to read at a funeral, or a book for their empty-nest syndrome. Someone might read the Poem of the Day out loud in the cafe and suddenly everyone is listening. We have hosted and will again, Poetry Breakfasts, book groups, talks, workshops and readings all with an emphasis on well-being.
Most of all this place is about welcome. The underlying connection for me and how I’ve found my way into developing this welcome, either through the work I did firstly with people living with dementia, to the more theatrical Poetry on Prescription from the back of a vintage ambulance as Emergency Poet, to the Poetry Pharmacy itself, is to act both lightly and seriously at the same time. To play with these simultaneous, but seemingly conflicting states and find coherence and contiguity.
I believe that there might be a sort of bringing something into the light; a parallel to the therapeutic journey itself, through welcome, warmth and humour, empathy and understanding. The place, or a poem can do this; shared moments of recognition and possibly a movement towards resolution.
Deborah Alma