Creative writing workshops for people with mental health difficulties
Participants: People suffering from mental health difficulties
Lead artist(s): Mari Ellis Dunning
Location: Mind, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion
Further info: Writing for Wellness at MIND will be a supportive and empowering project with a focus on writing for wellbeing and positive mental health. Through six creative writing workshops, participants will experiment with poetry, short stories and creative non-fiction in an inclusive environment, with the aim to foster positive mental wellbeing and develop coping strategies through writing. The project will encourage wider inclusion and engagement with literature and the arts for people who may be marginalised due to mental health difficulties, and will culminate with the production of a pamphlet of participants’ work.
About Mari Ellis Dunning: Mari Ellis Dunning is an award-winning poet, writer of fiction and Hay Writer at Work. In 2019, her debut poetry collection, Salacia, was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year. Her debut children’s book, Percy the PomPom Bear, was launched at the Abergavenny Writing Festival in 2016. In autumn 2019, she began studying for her PhD in Creative Writing exploring witchcraft and reproduction through short stories. Mari currently lives on the coast near Aberystwyth with her husband and their dog.
Artist’s quote:
“I hope to encourage and empower individuals who may not currently be equipped to, or confident in, utilising literature as a tool for mental wellbeing to do so. I have always used creative writing to navigate and share my own experiences, and hope that this scheme will inspire others to do so also.”