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Show Notes
This week we chat to Professor Raymond Mar of the MAR Lab (York University, Canada). Raymond is a Professor of psychology and employs personality, social, and cognitive psychology along with neuroscience to study imaginative experiences such as engaging with fictional narratives acrossdifferent forms media. We talk all about the effects of narrative on social cognition, some surprising results of his psychology studies, and how this relatively new research area is full of interesting topics to explore.

Link to the MAR Lab published papers
Highly recommend reading some of the papers published by Raymond’s lab.
Here are a few relevant papers:
Link to Elizabeth van Monsjou & Raymond Mar’s study on shipping mentioned in the episode
Link to Raymond Mar’s article in Current Directions in Psychological Science about Stories and the Promotion of Social Cognition
Link to an article on how humour appreciation and prodution have different predictors

Works mentioned in the podcast:
Poetics by Aristotle
Short stories from The New Yorker

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Show Notes
This week our guest is Dr Douglas Cowie, senior lecturer in creative writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. We talk about the therapeutic effects of reading and writing, Moby Dick, and how everyone approaches texts differently and gets different things out of them.

Link to Doug’s website

List of texts and authors mentioned:
Authors:
WH Auden
John Berryman
Patrick Kavanaugh
Eve L Ewing
Herman Melville

Texts:
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Dream Song by John Berryman
Black Girl Magic the second BreakBeat Poets anthology
“what I mean when I say I’m sharpening my oyster knife” by Eve L Ewing 

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Deborah Alma, poet and founder of The Poetry Pharmacy. We discuss bibliotherapy, poetry, prescribing poems, and wellbeing, and what literature Deborah reaches for to improve mental health. This week I am joined by a guest co-host, Sara Cheraghlou.

Link to The Poetry Pharmacy website
Link to Deborah’s twitter account 

Authors and works mentioned in the podcast:
Authors:
Tove Jansson
Seamus Heaney
Derek Walcott
John Keats
William Shakespeare
Esther Morgan

Works:
The Moomin books by Tove Jansson
Love After Love by Derek Walcott
Postscript by Seamus Heaney
Grace by Esther Morgan
East Coker by TS Eliot

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Dr Radha Modgil, GP, mental health activist, and broadcaster. We discuss bibliotherapy, the rise of anxiety, the vitalness of therapuetic tools, and how important it is to care for one’s mental wellbeing.

Link to Dr Radha’s website
Link to Dr Radha’s twitter

Books and authors mentioned:
Authors:
Philip Pullman
Roald Dahl
Eckhart Tolle
Oprah Winfrey
Maya Angelou
Walter de la Mare

Books:
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
Boy by Roald Dahl
Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
What I Know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Ian Evans, UCL’s Publishing MA and DIS reserach students’ administrator. We discuss reading, graphic novels, the effects of lockdown on Ian’s reading habits, and what literature he reaches for to improve his own mental health.

Link to Ian’s twitter account

Books and authors mentioned in the podcast:
Authors:
Alan Moore
John Higgs
James Roberts
Oliver Burkeman

Books:
Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Jerusalem by Alan Moore
Watchmen by Alan Moore
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore
Prometheo by Alan Moore
The Bible
Stranger Than We Can Imagine by John Higgs
Watling Street by John Higgs
The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye  by James Roberts
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done by Oliver Burkeman
The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman

Photo by Jonathon Worth

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Cory Doctorow,  science fiction author, activist, and journalist. We discuss therapeutic reading, writing, commonplace books, interesting use cases for CC licenced work, and what literature Cory reaches for to improve his own mental health. Cory’s photograph by Jonathan Worth.

Link to Cory’s website
Link to Cory’s daily blog Pluralistic
Link to find all of Cory’s books
Link to Cory’s twitter account

Books and authors mentioned in the podcast:
Authors:
Cory Doctorow
Terry Pratchett
Stephen Berry (aka Neal Stephenson)
Bruce Sterling
Ayn Rand
Adolf Hitler
William Gibson
Daniel Pink Waters
Ray Bradbury
George Orwell
Iain M Banks
Ken MacLeod
Hannu Rajaniemi
Charlie Stross

Books:
Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow
Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
Interface by Stephen Berry (aka Neal Stephenson)
Distraction by Bruce Sterling
Someone comes to town, someone leaves town by Cory Doctorow
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
The Bible
Culture novels by Iain M Banks
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Alan Mendelson, the boy from Mars by Daniel Pink Waters
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
The Martian Chronicles by Cory Doctorow
1984 by George Orwell
Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
Homeland by Cory Doctorow

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Gyles Brandreth, author, actor, and broadcaster. We discuss bibliotherapy, where to read, memorising poetry, and what literature Gyles reaches for from his bedisde book trough. For all of Gyles’ jumper wearing and poetry reading follow #poetryandjumpers and find Gyles on twitter.

Link to Gyles’ twitter account
Link to Gyles’ website
Link to Gyles’ Instagram account
Link to Gyles’ podcast, Something Rhymes with Purple

Books and authors mentioned in the podcast:

Authors:
Aphra Behn
Philip Larkin
Bertrand Russell
Rupert Everett
Oscar Wilde
Professor Anthony Clare
Gyles Brandreth
T S Eliot
Mae West
Dorothy Parker
Emily Dickinson
Virginia Woolf
Anne Olivier Bell
Mary Tourtel
AA Milne
Christopher Robin Milne
JM Barrie
Anton Chekov
Arnold Bennett
Jane Austen
George Eliot
Charles Dickens
PG Wodehouse
Ben Schott
Evelyn Waugh
Frank Richards
Terry Pratchett
Iain Banks
Enid Blyton
Jilly Cooper
Mark Twain
Professor Usha Goswami
Elizabeth Browning
William Shakespeare
Roger McGough
Michael Rosen
Spike Milligan
Robert Graves
John Keats
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Steve Turner
John Donne
Andrew Marvell
Derek Mahon
Mary Wesley

Titles:
This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin
To the End of the World: Travels with Oscar by Rupert Everett
The 7 Secrets of Happiness by Gyles Brandreth
The Waves by Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
A Moment’s Liberty: Shorter Diary of Virginia Woolf by Virginia Woolf, ed Anne Olivier Bell
Rupert Bear by Mary Tourtel
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
Peter Pan by JM Barrie
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekov
The Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett
Anna of the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett
Jeeves and Wooster series by PG Wodehouse
Billy Bunter books by Frank Richards
Malory Towers books by Enid Blyton
Riders by Jilly Cooper
Tintin by Georges Remi
Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Dancing in the Light of the Moon by Gyles Brandreth
The Death of a Fly by Steve Turner
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat by Edward Lear
If I can stop one heart from breaking by Emily Dickinson
Everything Is Going to Be All Right by Derek Mahon

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Show Notes
In this Shelf Healing interview we chat to Giles Paley-Phillips, children’s picture book author and podcast host. We discuss bibliotherapy, writing, and mental wellbeing, and what literature Giles reaches for to improve his own mental health.

Link to Blank Giles’ podcast
Link to Giles’ lovely twitter account
Link to Giles’ author page  

Books and authors mentioned in the podcast:

Authors:
Giles Paley-Phillips
Ian Livingstone
Steve Jackson
Chuck Palahnuik
Don DeLillo
Paul Auster
Jon Ronson
Ian Rankin
John Fowles
Glen David Gold
Sharon Olds
Bret Easton Ellis
Gelong Thubten

Titles:
Fighting Fantasies by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson
The Magus by John Fowles
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Father by Sharon Olds
One Hundred and Fifty-Two Days by Giles Paley-Phillips
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
A Monks Guide to Happiness by Gelong Thubten
Beautiful Lego by Mike Doyle
The Property by Rutu Modan
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Sandman: 30th Anniversary Edition by Neil Gaiman

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Show Notes
In our first Shelf Healing interview we chat to Dr Paula Byrne, author and founder and CEO of ReLit: The Bibliotherapy Foundation. We discuss bibliotherapy, reading and mental health, and what literature Paula reaches for to improve her own mental health.

Link to Paula’s charity ReLit: The Bibliotherapy Foundation
Link to Paula’s twitter account
Link to Paula’s author website
Link to LibriVox

Books and authors mentioned in the podcast:

Authors:

Dr Paula Byrne
Jane Austen
Evelyn Waugh
Jonathan Bate
P.G. Wodehouse
Barbara Pym
Thomas Hardy
Elizabeth Taylor
William Shakespeare
William Wordsworth
Matt Haig
 
Titles:

Much Obliged, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Diary for Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy
The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy
Middlemarch by Mary Ann Evans
Othello by William Shakespeare
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy by Priscilla Gilman
Daffodils by William Wordsworth
Stressed, Unstressed by Jonathan Bate and Paula Byrne
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
On the Birth and Death of My Dearest Child Hector Phillips by Katherine Phillips
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig