Chronic Women – Menywod Cronig

Mel Perry shares her experience of being published in the groundbreaking new anthology, Chronic Women – Menywod Cronig.

It is a privilege to have been included in the bilingual poetry anthology Chronic Women – Menywod Cronig, alongside thirteen other Welsh writers. This collection forms part of a project using poetry to raise the voices of women in Wales who live with illness, pain and chronic conditions. In addition to my own poem, The Art of Hearing, the inside of the front and back covers of the book features a photograph of my painting which is connected to conversations I have had about my hearing loss.

The project is led by Literature Wales with our current and first National Poets of Wales- Hanan Issa and Gwyneth Lewis – and supported by the Women’s Health Network (NHS Wales Performance and Improvement) the arts teams from three Welsh Health Boards, Honno Press and the Books Council of Wales.

Poetic contributions cover the gamut of women’s experiences living with neurological, orthopaedic, immunological, sensory and neuro diverse conditions, and how we navigate our lives and access services. As Hanan Issa says of our poems “we are giving testimony, writing about something deeply personal, how we live with these conditions and get support.” In The Art of Hearing, I reflect on the impact of my deafness as a child and young person and the changes that occurred when I eventually had a hearing aid.

I recommend this collection to read for itself and  as a springboard for inviting others to write into their own experiences. As Hanan says,

“I hope that when someone comes across this book, it feels like someone is holding their hand”.

Chronic Women is available online from Honno Press and most booksellers.