On Poetry, Metaphor and Chronic Pain: Language as a Tool for Healing with Sarah Fletcher

In this episode of Bibliotherapy with Bijal Shah, I interview Sarah Fletcher, a British-American poet who grew up in the UK and later pursued poetry and a PhD researching physical pain and poetry. We discuss the power of poetry to heal through rhythm, sound, precision, memorability, and how physical pain is difficult to capture in language, often relying on metaphor, including militaristic framing and the limits of the 1–10 pain scale.

We discuss how chronic pain is isolating, fragmentary, and hard to capture in narrative. Sarah also talks about some of the poetry and pain workshops she runs that build shared language and connection to capture the physical experience of pain in poetry, including reframing pain as an unwelcome guest at a house party. She notes a Canadian hospital’s “pain menus,” how expressive writing can improve healing, and the need to challenge mind–body dualism.

Sarah also cites T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” as life-changing and we also announce an upcoming shared podcast, “The Bibliotherapy Room" that we will be recording! Watch this space for more :)

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:49 Sarah’s Poetry Origins

04:55 Sound, Rhythm and Healing

06:58 Why Pain Resists Language

09:12 Metaphors We Use for Pain

11:51 Chronic Pain and Isolation

15:41 Living Alongside Pain

17:58 Creative Writing for Pain

22:20 Empathy Doubt and Doctors

26:07 Workshops Laughter and Relief

27:46 Pain Menus and Social Prescribing

31:51 Mind Body and Creativity

33:51 Life Changing Poem Pick

36:44 New Podcast Announcement

38:29 Closing Thanks and Farewell

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Don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and get new episodes as they are released. If you'd like access to the transcripts, do subscribe to my substack: Bibliotherapy with Bijal Shah - Transcripts on Substack.

If you'd like a bibliotherapist in your pocket then you might find my book, Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading a helpful companion.

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