27 Links: Links from Reader 27 on Victoria Field

In issue 27, The Reader tries to be happy, gathering together stories, poetry, essays and recommendations that focus on moments of joy and simple pleasure. It includes an article by Victoria Field, a writer and poetry therapist from Cornwall, in which she looks at the development of her own reading life and the books she loves. We thought we'd pull together some things from the Web to add to your enjoyment of the piece. Issue 27 of The Reader magazine is available now. To find out more and to get your hands on a copy, click here

Victoria writes about her reading life, from childhood, right through to recommendations from her present-day reading. If, like Victoria you were a fan of Enid Blyton's 'Malory Towers' books as a child, you will enjoy a visit to Enid Blyton.net, where you can reminisce and find out what became of the Malory Towers girls after school. Whilst studying at grammar school, it was Al Alvarez's The New Poetry, published by penguin that captured her imagination, a book which Victoria says 'was destined to follow me for the rest of my life'. To read a review of the book click here

Victoria's work in Poetry Therapy uses poetry to promote health and well being. You can read more about the work being done on a large scale in this area on the websites belonging to the two organisations Victoria highlights in her piece, The U.S. National Association for Poetry Therapy and in the U.K. LAPIDUS

Victoria's own interest in this area was helped along by Professor Stuart Sutherland, who headed the Experimental Psychology department at Sussex University and told his students repeatedly that 'literature, not psychology, held the key to human nature.' You can read reviews of his memoir of his own manic depressive illness here. And if you are interested in learning more about the world of poetry therapy, you might find Victoria's book, 'Writing Works - A Handbook of Therapeutic Writing Workshops and Activities' a useful resource. Click here to read more about the book.

Read more in The Reader magazine.

By Katie Peters