Happy Publication Day to Chronic Women!

Published Tue 17 Feb 2026 - By Literature Wales

“A powerful and unflinching collection of poems about living with long term health conditions.”

Today, 19 February, the wonderful Chronic Women is published by Honno Press. The anthology is the product of a project of the same name, devised by Hanan Issa, National Poet of Wales, and which was developed alongside the first National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth Lewis.

Chronic Women is a bilingual anthology of poems by 14 women from Wales who have been inspired by their own lived experience of chronic health conditions and disability. The project addresses the inequalities in women’s health care and outcomes, using poetry to raise voices, offering a springboard to open up conversations with women and girls as well as with healthcare professionals, and exploring the role creative writing can have in supporting health and wellbeing.

With contributions by fantastic poets from across Wales, introductions by Hanan, Gwyneth and Dr Helen Munro, Clinical Lead of the Women’s Health Network (NHS Wales Performance and Improvement), and illustrations by the artist Elizabeth Akerele, this is a book to treasure.

You can buy Chronic Women directly from Honno, or from your local bookstore.

To read more about the project, go to: Chronic Women – Literature Wales