Exploring neurodivergence – poems by 15 writers

Interested in neurodivergence or are you neurodivergent yourself? You’ll find a rich seam of insights and experiences in these poems written by 15 writers, including myself. You can read the poems and download the booklet from the link. Or listen to the Bloomsbury Radio interview.

The Neurodiversity Project was an initiative from 26: Membership Organisation. It involved 15 writers who created 62-word poems on the theme of neurodivergence.

We also ran a panel discussion at Wordstock at The Bloomsbury Festival, featuring the project team – Lloyd Harry-Davis and myself, with Ann Storr sadly unable to attend but very much part of it. Our special guest was Gregory Kearns from the Brain Charity, and there was  a moving poetry reading from Margaret Cheng MCIPD, BA (Hons) and her daughter Sophie.

Interesting and important fact: The term ‘neurodiverse’ applies to us all. All human brains are necessarily different. But ‘neurodivergent’ applies to a specific set of people: who tend to be discriminated against because they diverge from the majority and the processes and characteristics of our society aren’t set up to include them.

You can now hear our radio interview about the project on Spotify (Bloomsbury Radio podcast):

• We start by talking briefly about the project – that’s my colleagues on the project team Ann Storr Lloyd Harry-Davis and myself.
• Then we hear from Katherine White, a neurodivergent actor, about a play by Barra Fitzgibbon that was being performed at the Bloomsbury Festival. We discuss her experience as a person with several neurodivergent conditions (12.30 mins in).
• Then we return to the project, and you can hear three of us reading our own poems (22 mins in). We end with a general chat about neurodivergence (28 mins in) including the strengths and pitfalls, particularly when working with a team of neurodivergent creatives.