Margaret Bryden, a therapist and self-described bad poet, makes the case that poetry is a real mental fitness practice, reads three poems from her debut book, and lays out eight things writing does that reading on its own cannot.
Show Notes & Chapters
What if writing bad poetry turned out to be one of the most useful things you could do for your mental health? Dave and Luke sit down with Margaret Bryden, a therapist, author, and self-described bad poet, to talk about her debut book How I Understand It: A Bad Poet’s Guide to Mental Health and Resilience.
Margaret draws on her work in private practice and psychiatric hospitals to make the case that poetry is a practice anyone can pick up, not a talent you either have or you do not. She reads three of her poems and unpacks the psychology behind each one, then walks through eight things writing offers that reading on its own cannot. Her argument is that writing does not have to be good to help. It has to be purposeful.