Dr Lesel Dawson

This week my guest is Dr Lesel Dawson, an academic at the University of Bristol. Lesel is an Associate Professor in the English Department at the University of Bristol, her academic research explores grief, literature and the history of the emotions. She is currently writing a book on grief and creativity.Her work includes co-producing two short films on children, grief and creativity; partnering with charities on an article on mandatory grief education; collaborating on an illustrated booklet on grief and baby loss; writing the screenplay for a fiction film about disenfranchised grief; and working with theatre company Crowded Room on an audio story. Lesel is also the Arts and Culture Lead of the Good Grief Festival.In this episode we discuss what initially drew Lesel into exploring society's relationship between grief and creativity and what insights she's gained regarding the benefits of pursuing creative endeavours in the wake of loss.Feels Like Healing is a show where I talk to individuals about how they've used creativity as a way of helping them heal.These conversations are here to show how we find comfort and solace through the act of being creative and how creativity can help us all reach a place of healing.::You can connect with Feels Like Healing on Instagram / Twitter / Facebook @flhpodcastProduced / Edited by Al LewisTheme music by Al Lewis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Om Podcasten

Feels like Healing is a series of conversations between myself Al Lewis and individuals who have turned to creativity as a way of helping them heal.Our need for healing is universal. However the reasons behind it can be oh so varied; a difficult childhood, a traumatic experience or perhaps a bereavement and our need to process grief.My search for healing stems from the death of my Dad, who died when I was 21 from Multiple Sclerosis.For over fifteen years I'd kept a quiet lid on my grief. However when it came to clearing out the last remaining boxes from my Dad's attic, that grief that I'd suppressed came rushing to the surface. It was then that I began to write songs about my Dad. Writing those songs was incredibly cathartic and I realised how useful creativity can be when confronted with the hardest parts of life.I believe that hearing other people's stories can help us to process ours and that the act of being creative can help turn something seemingly hopeless and incomprehensible in to something beautiful and hopeful.These conversations are here to provide solace and inspiration and to show you that healing can happen when we take our deepest pain and turn it into a work of art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.