Nearly three months have passed by since I last wrote a blog post here. Things have been difficult: circumstances in my personal life have demanded my attention and I simply haven't had the energy or headspace in which to write. Life is just like that sometimes. The creative impulse ebbs and flows. Winter draws in and we draw in with it, while the orbit we normally traverse pulls closer to the centre.
But there is news to share, so I am interrupting the radio silence to send out some snippets.
Mad Studies, Psychosis and Solidarity
At the end of October, I co-presented a session at the ISPS-US annual conference, with my friend and course colleague Jesse. ISPS is the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis, and the theme of the conference was 'solidarity.' Our session introduced participants to mad studies using an innovative learning model (created by Jesse in his own work as an educator.)
Unpsychology magazine: autumn 2023
I am immensely proud to say that the second part of our 2023 double issue – Imaginings – has now been published.
It is free to download as a digital copy, and will shortly be available in print via the Great British Bookshop (where issue 9.1 is already on sale.)
I've got a piece in this issue! It is an interview with Richard Saville-Smith, the author of Acute Religious Experiences: Madness, Psychosis and Religious Studies. We had a wonderful chat together which you can listen to via the pages of the magazine.
Also: we will be celebrating the publication of the Imaginings double issue with an online launch party on Sunday 10 December at 7pm GMT. You are invited to join editors, contributors and readers of Unpsychology Magazine for an hour of sharing: readings, music and reflections. You can register for the online launch party here.
Asylum magazine: winter 2023
I have written an article in the upcoming issue of Asylum magazine, entitled “An Ode to MSc Mad Studies.” Asylum is a radical mental health magazine which acts as a platform to voice and discuss all perspectives on mental health.
IMSJ
I am delighted to share that I will be joining the editorial board of the International Mad Studies Journal, in the new year. More on this to follow...
Mad Studies meetup on 7 December
For any of my readers who live in or near Edinburgh, please feel welcome to come along on Thursday 7 December for a festive meetup. Joining details for this event are via the Meetup platform.