BiblioPoetry Therapy

An Introduction to Biblio/Poetry Therapy

Welcome to a brief personal biblio/poetry therapy overview, followed by a closer look at a specific project involving one-on-one reading aloud in a clinical setting. The example discussed will be the Läsklubb/Reading Club in Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, which is currently the subject of a medical research study in the intensive care unit.

Biblio/poetry therapy is an open and dynamic method that combines well with other forms of artistic expressions. It can be adapted to suit different settings and perspectives, such as social, developmental, educational, preventive, rehabilitative, or clinical. It can be adjusted to fit various purposes or contexts. The work is shaped according to the goals, education, and competencies of the facilitator.

Reading and writing is typically used to explore thoughts, feelings, memories and dreams. Novels, poems, short stories, and original writing are read and discussed as catalysts for thinking, talking, and reflecting together, either one-on-one or in a group. Much can be achieved through simple, natural gestures: giving space and time, listening with care and interest, staying on topic, creating a genuine presence and offering a safe environment where participants feel they can share, or remain silent, and still take fully part in the activity.

A link to the introduction will be posted here.

Appro-poetry: A Digital Biblio/Poetry Therapy Workshop of Borrowed Words

Appropoetry is a fusion of appropriation and poetry. It highlights the mindful borrowing of poetic lines for the purpose of free writing, and the respectful act of giving them back.

As a participant, you will be presented with fragments from a poem. The workshop invites you to view these fragments not as parts of an untouchable work of art, but as personal, open and accessible starting points or triggers. These bibliotherapeutic fragments may be followed, altered, or partially erased, depending on your preference. They serve as a framework for associations, allowing you to interpret each word to reflect your unconscious as it unfolds in the moment. The anonymity of the poet enables you to enter without being influenced by the author’s identity or reputation.

At the end of the workshop, after the writing and optional sharing, you will receive the poem, with the cut-out fragments restored to their original context.

Appropoetry expands the possibilities of transforming feelings, thoughts, and memories into original writing, using universal, archetypal metaphors rooted in human experience.

A link to the workshop will be posted here.