- The world’s first “Poetry Pharmacy” is now open in Bishops Castle, Shropshire
- It is a beautiful Victorian shop with its original shelves and mahogany counter now filled with literary-related things that are currently used to address emotional needs
- It is filled with literature, retro and vintage stationery, as well as poetry books and pills
As literature has been a proven remedy for deep sentiments, the world’s first “Poetry Pharmacy” is now open in Bishops Castle, Shropshire; “prescribing” verses instead of pills to patients with emotional needs.
The Poetry Pharmacy, which just started “healing patients” recently, is a beautiful Victorian shop with its original shelves and mahogany counter now filled with literary-related things–verses, retro and vintage stationery, as well as poetry books and pills–that are currently being used to address emotional needs.
“Poetry on prescription–an alternative therapy for your emotional ailments. Whether you are suffering from the stresses of the modern world or the pain of a broken heart or simply need a tonic for the spirits, rest assured that we have a poetic remedy for you,” the pharmacy’s website said.
Deborah Alma, the poet behind the extraordinary place, believes that “poetry can do so much to match or alter a mood, to assist in so many ways with good mental health.”
“We have been dispensing poetry for over seven years as ‘Emergency Poet’ from the back of our vintage ambulance at festivals, conferences, hospitals and care settings, libraries and schools, with a poetry pharmacy of poems-in-pill under the attached awning,” it was disclosed.
The Poetry Pharmacy, which has the element of theatre and has a light-hearted approach, has something for everyone: Candlestick Press “Poems Instead of a Card”, cup of Tea (S Eliot), and a piece of Philip Parkin.
