Chronic Women | Menywod Cronig – Autumn 2026

Chronic Women | Menywod Cronig is a poetry project aimed at improving understanding of women’s health conditions and supporting ongoing work to address inequalities in healthcare and outcomes for women in Wales. The project is funded and delivered by Literature Wales in partnership with the Arts In Health team at ABUHB, and teams in Hywel Dda and Swansea Bay Health Boards. 

The aim is to use poetry as a springboard to open up conversations about women’s and girls’ experiences of health challenges and the health system, and to explore with healthcare professionals e.g. GPs and clinicians -the potential for a more strategic use of poetry and creative writing to support health and wellbeing within the context of social prescribing and lifestyle medicine.
 
Creative online workshops have taken place for ABUHB staff with writer Emma Smith-Barton, with a further workshop for ABUHB staff in September with two poets from the Chronic Women anthology which aims to raise awareness of Women’s Health. Emma Smith-Barton and clare e. potter will share their poems from the book and talk about living with health conditions and how writing helps them. The poets will also lead a gentle creative exercise for well-being.
 
Literature Wales have donated copies of the Chronic Women book to all five ABUHB libraries at The Royal Gwent Hospital, Nevill Hall Hospital, St Cadocs Hospital, Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr and The Grange University Hospital which are now available for loan. The Arts In Health Team also have a set of 5 for use in workshops.
 
You can find out more about the project here: Chronic Women | Menywod Cronig
You can order a copy of the book here: Chronic Women | Menywod Cronig Book