The Mind in Verse: Reading Poetry about Madness

Poetry and madness have long been linked in the popular imagination. Many poets, from William Blake to Sylvia Plath, were said to possess a unique insight into the human condition thanks to their experiences with what we now call mental illness. But poetry has also been an important tool for the doctors who treat it. Throughout history, psychiatrists have used verse to better understand their patients and their work.

In this workshop, we'll explore poetic depictions of madness from both sides of the clinical encounter—the patient and the doctor. Examining poems from these two distinct perspectives, we will reflect on poetry’s power to capture the complex experience of mental distress and the evolving relationship between doctor and patient throughout history.

Tea and coffee break included.

Materials will be provided ahead of the workshop.

Mila Daskalova moved from Bulgaria to Edinburgh in 2012 to study literature and never left. She is a researcher and lecturer at the University of Glasgow interested in the history of psychiatry and the role of literature in the representation and treatment of mental illness. She founded and co-edited Podslon (2021-2022), a Bulgarian magazine that explored mental health and illness through art and literature. She is currently working on her first book, News from the Asylum: The Nineteenth-Century Asylum Periodical in Britain, America and Beyond.

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