
As Chair of Local Families with Bleeding Disorders, I’m thrilled to share the powerful experience we recently had through a unique poetry course. This initiative brought together individuals living with bleeding disorders to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences through the power of creative writing.
This project was largely thanks to Dr. Rich Gorman, Senior Research Fellow at Brighton Medical School, who successfully secured funding for this project. Rich is a passionate advocate for using creative writing to give voice to lived experiences, and we are deeply grateful for his support.
The course was led by Dawn Gorman (no relation to Rich!), an award-winning poet, arts practitioner, and journalist. Dawn skillfully guided us through the art of poetry, teaching techniques that helped us unlock deeply personal and emotional stories.
Under Dawn’s expert mentorship, we created some truly moving and powerful poems. The sessions were not only creative but deeply therapeutic. At times, we confronted challenging and painful memories, but the safe and supportive environment helped us navigate those emotions together.
This course has been a journey of connection, courage, and creativity. It was an honour to work with such a wonderful group of ladies, each bringing their own voice and strength to the process.
We hope to publish our poetry later this year and share our journey through an episode of the Haemnet podcast.
This has been an unforgettable and empowering experience that we shall treasure.