Kit de Waal, Joanne Harris, Jackie Kay, Lisa Luxx, Nikesh Shukla and Lemn Sissay all feature in this new film commissioned for the 2020 Huddersfield Literature Festival (HLF2020).
The three-minute animated short has been created as part of the Festival project: The Creative Mind, which explores ideas around creativity and mental wellbeing. It was premiered at the HLF2020 Preview on Tuesday 25 February at the University of Huddersfield.
The film is a partnership between the Festival and Words in Mind, a National Lottery funded project run by TSL Kirklees, which helps local community groups, care homes, hospitals and libraries work with volunteers to host therapeutic reading groups. These groups use extracts from all kinds of books, poetry and writing to help people connect with memories and emotions, and promote good mental health, using a process called creative bibliotherapy.
The Creative Mind project has also received support from Woven Festival: a biennial celebration of innovation in textiles across Kirklees. Festival Director, Michelle Hodgson, said: “Our Festival audiences often tell us about the positive and long-term benefits they experience from listening to writers and poets speak, or taking part in workshops, from creative writing to Bibliotherapy.
The Creative Mind project not only features wonderful contributions from major writers and poets exploring creativity and mental wellbeing, but also brings together a number of organisations within the town, in a spirit of collaboration and co-operation.” Elaine Duffy, Project Co-ordinator for Words in Mind, said: “We are pleased to be partnering with the Festival again to showcase the healing value of reading and writing for mental health and wellbeing. And we’re delighted to have had the opportunity to work with Fettle and such well-known names from the world of literature. Our taster Bibliotherapy sessions will be run by two of the Words in Mind volunteers who help facilitate some of the 47 groups that we run across Kirklees.”