Conference hailed as great success as baton is passed to Turkey for 2027 ​

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​We are delighted by the success of the third annual European Biblio/Poetry Therapy 'Pilgrims of the Page' conference which became a rich gathering of 110 participants from 25 countries spanning Europe and the rest of the world. 

 

Delegates travelled to join us from an array of countries including the UK, Hungary, Finland, Israel, Sweden, Italy, Lithuania, US, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Romania, Türkiye, Austria, Croatia, France, Denmark, India, Ireland, Japan, Liberia, Taiwan and Zambia.  We congregated in the Lodge next to Canterbury Cathedral in the autumn sunshine to explore how words can heal, transform and illuminate human lives. 

 

At our regular meetings over the past year the organising team (comprising Victoria Field, Eduard Heyning, Mel Perry, Mariana Casale, Jon Sayers and Anne Taylor) took inspiration from Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales when developing the conference’s guiding themes.

 

'We envisioned the conference becoming a Tavern—a designated place of welcome, conversation, and shared humanity; a Road—an unfolding journey of practice dialogue and discovery through a rich array of workshops and presentations; and a Shrine—where we invited curated moments of reflection, insight, and integration,' says Jon, who first proposed these metaphors.

 

'We are delighted by the way participants engaged with the themes of the conference and by the positive feedback we received on the warm, welcoming and inspirational nature of the event,' adds Eduard.

 

Keynote speaker Neil Astley, editor of Bloodaxe books and publisher of the ground-breaking Staying Alive life-affirming anthologies opened the conference with poems for inspiration as well as video interviews with poets Jane Hirshfield, Chase Twichell, Jane Clarke and Arundhathi Subramaniam who reflected on how poems can act as a tavern, road and shrine. 

 

In her keynote on day two, Lapidus International chair, facilitator and poet Mel Perry gave a moving portrayal of her journey into the field of therapeutic writing and poetry, using islands and travel as ways of opening reflections on the ‘troughs and rainbows’ that make up the weather of our lives.

 

As well as presentations and workshops as spaces for inspiration and connection, participants at the main conference were offered a quiet corner for reflection complete with a poetry tombola by John Prebble and Alex McIntyre of the Poetry Exchange . 

 

Delegates also enjoyed at Pilgrim's Feast with entertainment at St Paul's Church and the opportunity to attend Evensong in the Cathedral and experience the historic city of Canterbury on a walking tour on the morning following the conference. 

 

'What a joy it was to be face-to-face and connecting through poetry. This is how we re-weave the social fabric of the world!’ says Victoria. 

 

'We were hoping that the conference would become a metaphorical shelter, somewhere for Pilgrims to huddle in a storm. The event surpassed all our expectations,’ adds Mel.

 

The main conference was preceded by a successful 'Building a Field Together' Research-Focused Day led by Mariana Casale and Jurgen Pieters from Ghent University and CHARM, a network of global partners working in the field of medical and health humanities, which was also very well received by participants.

 

At the end of the conference a baton was passed symbolically from Judit Béres, who organised the first conference in Budapest to Karoliina Maanmieli and Juhani Ihanus, who hosted the second in Jyväskylä via the Canterbury conference team to Güssün Güneş, who revealed that the 4th Conference will take place in the Rami Library in İstanbul on 16-18 September 2027.

 

We are very much looking forward to the opportunity of connecting with members of our vibrant and growing international biblio-poetry therapy community again next year.

 

With warm wishes, Victoria, Mel, Mariana, Jon, Eduard, and Anne​​​​​​

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