A new book detailing the positive impact of the arts, community and storytelling on those who have experienced mental health trauma will be launched in Belfast this week.
The Rest of the Story – Transforming Trauma to Voice, Agency and Leadership will be launched at The MAC in Belfast on Wednesday at 7pm.
The new anthology is the culmination of a five-year collaboration between its editor Michael Patrick MacDonald, the creator of trauma-informed writing and storytelling initiative The Rest of the Story, and community group New Script for Mental Health, which campaigns for a rights-based approach to mental health in the north.
The publication combines a mix of poetry, prose and memoir, drawing upon “personal experiences of trauma and mental health struggles, alongside the healing power of community, solidarity and the arts”.
The book, which also features artwork created by mental health activists, is described as addressing subjects such as “inter-generational trauma, domestic and sexual violence, suicide, addiction and the struggle to move beyond pain and loss.”
The launch event will feature readings by contributors, short presentations, music and light refreshments.
“Too often, the lives of those who have been systemically marginalized are reduced to a ‘single story’, one shaped by dominant voices in media and policy,” explains Michael Patrick MacDonald.
“The Rest of the Story is about reclaiming our narratives in all their nuance and complexity. By owning our stories, we gain the agency to transform, integrate trauma, and support healing and growth.
“These individual stories connect us, build solidarity and nurture communities rooted in justice and healing.”
New Script for Mental Health is a grassroots movement campaigning for a rights-based approach to mental health.
Its members include people with lived experience of mental health services as well as frontline workers, united in their mission to reshape mental health narratives through activism, storytelling and the arts.
Sara Boyce, organiser of New Script for Mental Health, says: “Storytelling is central to our campaign.
“It creates space for people with lived experience to challenge outdated, medicalised models of mental health.
“The Rest of the Story programme offered activists safe spaces of solidarity to share their experiences while reconnecting personal pain with social injustice.”
For more information on The Rest of the Story – Transforming Trauma to Voice, Agency and Leadership, contact Sara Boyce via sara@pprproject.org.
Find out more about New Script for Mental Health at nlb.ie.
