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Write Speak Recover

Write Speak Recover explores how poetry and performing are transformational art forms for mental health and recovery. WSR captures the subject's essence through medium format, b/w portraiture. We present the people behind the poems honouring their creativity, vulnerability and fearlessness. It is a reminder that healing processes, though deeply personal, carry similarities. WSR is continually open to submissions from poets who are using their art to heal from any form of dis-ease in their lives.

Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Ruth Beddow

When I stumbled upon a writing class in the summer of 2024, I was like a little baby Bambi poet, all doe-eyed and completely unsure of my footing. Thankfully, Ruth and her collective are so kind and welcoming. That vibe permeated through the space as we squashed together (her workshops
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover - Ameer Azad

Ameer’s poetry screams out with things only he has seen or imagined, shared in carefully curated landscapes that take you on a (sometimes shocking) journey. It seemed suitable to share this edition on Halloween, a day when lines between worlds real and unreal, of the living and the dead
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Laurie Farrugia

When one meets Laurie, it’s impossible not to be struck by her authenticity and vulnerability – she's someone who is in full grasp of her honest self. We first met at a Sober AF Poetry night and Laurie’s stage presence was simultaneously gentle and fierce. It takes
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Seb Bance

I have only heard Seb speak once at a poetry event, the poem below, (and a mad one about croissants!) and the performance stayed with me. This episode is exactly why I decided not to solely focus on recovery as it might usually be spoken about in addiction and sobriety.
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Lizzie Rose

"Oh gosh what can I say about Lizzie to do her justice? She is a siren, she calls out from a place that can’t be calmed. With a voice that has to be heard. Telling stories that are at once profoundly personal and universally relatable. Whenever I hear
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Write Speak Recover ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Simon Gardner

A few words on Simon "You’ll notice references to heaven and hell and the inner self in Simon’s poem in this offering of Write Speak Recover. So, I don’t think it was an accident that he was wearing a Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel t-shirt when we met
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Hannah Stanislaus

"Hannah created the Lost Souls poetry nights and always videos the poets. Later sharing the recordings on Instagram as a lovely way to honour their work. The best part of this is you can hear Hannah’s “hmmms” and “wows” as the poets speak. Little offers of love and
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Sasha

"In talking to, and listening to Sasha's poetry you'll be met by a deep poetic knowledge and understanding of the natural world, and the challenges it faces. I always learn something when I talk to Sasha, about identity, the body, the planet. Gentle lessons about
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Write Speak Recover ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Kellie Adams

"I first heard Kellie at Lost Souls Poetry night. I felt kinda off myself that day and didn’t like how I read but in the break they were super kind and told me they’d connected with it. I wasn’t going to stick around for the second
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Rayon Johnson

"I felt very disoriented when I moved to London in 2024 and didn’t know anyone. I found Write B4 the Mic in Brixton run by Starlight (a previous WSR poet). The first workshop I attended was on the theme of love. Rayon was co-hosting. I was really nervous.
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Issues ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Fiona Broadhurst

"I went to my first poetry night in early 2024 after returning to the UK permanently for the first time in over 20 years. I had been writing feverishly and the lovely souls in my Recovery Dharma group had been encouraging me to go out and speak. I had
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Write Speak Recover ⸱ Tim Foley

Write Speak Recover: Jean Akintoye

"Jean is a maker of magic. You can feel it moving around him as he enters a room. An aura of wonderful otherness as if he wears a cloak of creativity. Ready at any moment to whisk it into action and spring into sorcery! That’s how his poems
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