Consultations
Please note: Apologies, but we are pausing bookings for our consultations until our new space in Lush, Oxford Street is open in June
Deborah Alma ‘I think the combination of being carefully listened to; being taken to idealised places through the ‘consultation’, putting your feet up on the chaise longue and then having a hand-picked poem is always a winning combination. Everyone loves it; it has an effect both light and profound.’
How it works
You will be welcomed at the Poetry Pharmacy and ushered upstairs to the treatment room. Settle on the chaise for a gentle consultation with Deborah, and afterwards retire to the dispensary café with your prescribed poems for tea or coffee.
‘From the start I was overwhelmed by people’s responses, not just to the idea itself and to the theatre, but to the ‘therapy’ session. There is a magical combination of things when someone comes in: they put their feet up, sounds outside are hushed; it is a non-threatening intimate space.
I have been invited to do the work, or something tailor-made, in hospitals and in hospices, with vulnerable groups: people with sight loss, a loneliness charity, people with learning difficulties, survivors of domestic violence and others.’
Deborah Alma interviewed by Leslie Tate
You can see Deborah filmed by the BBC at work in 2014
In Person
£50
Apologies, but we are pausing bookings for our consultations until our new space in Lush, Oxford Street is open in June
In-person consultations with Deborah are by appointment and the price includes tea or coffee and some cake, a copy of The Emergency Poet – An Anti-stress Poetry Anthology, as well as some other suitable poetic prescriptions in a Poetry Pharmacy bag.
Please include your name and preferred date & time for your appointment and Deb will get back to you.
Apologies, but we are pausing bookings for our consultations until our new space in Lush, Oxford Street is open in June
If you can’t make it to Shropshire, then consultations are also available as an email exchange, a Zoom chat or by phone. You can purchase one from here.
Poetry Surgeries
A rare opportunity to work one on one with a professional poet.
"Rhiannon was always so positive and clear in her feedback and I have come away with a host of new ideas that I would never have attempted without her support." -Tina Cole
Writing a poem is a personal thing, but there are skills to be learnt too, especially where editing your work is concerned, and our Poetry Surgeries aim to help you through this process. They offer a rare opportunity to work one on one with a professional poet, who will address any specific difficulties you are having as well as giving in depth feedback on each poem.
Receive detailed one to one advice on up to three of your own poems from resident Poetry Pharmacy poet Rhiannon Hooson. Poetry Surgeries are by appointment and can take place either face to face at the Poetry Pharmacy, or online. There is a £60 charge for an hour long consultation.
How it works
You will submit your work in advance by email, then visit the Poetry Pharmacy where you’ll receive private and detailed feedback on your poems over coffee. If you can’t make it to Shropshire, your surgery can take place over zoom or via email!
Our approach is constructive, supportive and positive, and you’ll go away with concrete ideas for your work as well as plenty to think about.
Rhiannon Hooson is a Welsh poet, author and editor. She has won major awards for her work, including an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors, and her first book, The Other City, was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award. In the last few years, she has been a Literature Wales bursary recipient, a Hay Festival Writer at Work, poetry editor of Creative Countryside magazine, and the judge of the PENfro festival poetry competition. She has a PhD in poetry from the University of Lancaster, and spent time living and working in Cumbria and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, before settling in the Welsh marches. Goliat, her second collection, is out now from Seren.
Find out more about Rhiannon’s work at rhiannonhooson.com
To book a poetry surgery, please email crhooson@gmail.com