#9: Speaking at an event in London, 30th January
Join me for an evening of art, visibility and conversation about chronic illness
I’m Emily, chronically ill (primarily with ME/CFS), grief-tender, regenerative organisational designer and facilitator, coach and writer. Read about my journey in this interview, and about GriefSick in Edition #1.
Hello.
It’s been six months since I sent this newsletter (a summer update, followed by guesting on a podcast). In the meantime, I have been overhauling my life by moving to Devon and co-hosting
Hartland, which had its own griefy elements, amongst all the joy and transformation - the two go hand-in-hand. Here’s a write-up of the experience.I have sincere yearnings for GriefSick this year, competing with the other priorities that tend to over-stuff a life, especially an energy-limited life. I’m starting a writing course tomorrow night, I will hold a grief circle later in the year. I’m hopeful. Let’s see what 2025 brings.
Talking chronic illness grief at The Chronic Oversharers
For now, an invite to join me at The Chronic Oversharers in London, the evening of 30th January. I’ll be talking about GriefSick as a project, and chronic illness and grief more widely, in conversation with Anna, Roxana, Isabelle Pead (@isabelle_pead) and Sam Ipema (@sam_ipppema) about doing creative work while living with chronic illness and disability.
The Chronic Oversharers founders Anna van Miert and Roxana Muñoz are both chronically ill postgraduate actors and theatre makers. Anna lives with Chronic UTI (CUTI), Roxana lives with Crohn’s Disease. I love their vision of bringing chronically ill and abled creatives together to share, and learn about invisible illnesses in the creative sector.
The evening will include
A Panel Discussion and Q&A: Founders Anna van Miert and Roxana Munoz will explore the challenges and inspirations of navigating the creative sector while living with chronic illness/disability. Featuring guest artists Isabelle Pead (@isabelle_pead) Emily Bazalgette (@grief_sick) and Sam Ipema (@sam_ipppema).
Live Readings & Exhibition of Art Works: Enjoy a showcase of writing, visual art and more, celebrating work informed by lived experiences of chronic illness. Attendees will have dedicated time to explore the displayed works.
The event will also be livestreamed (I am in conversation with Anna and Roxana about the venue’s Covid policies).
Situating chronic illness in culture
When I started GriefSick, I wondered about the near-total absence of chronic illness, especially invisible illness, from creative work, despite its ubiquity as an experience:
Why does an experience common to 40% of the population (26 million people in the UK have a chronic illness) have no place in mainstream culture? Where are the books, podcasts, documentaries and dramatisations of this particular grieving experience? Why is it so hard for abled people to witness chronic illness grief?
I love that Anna and Roxana are taking action to remedy this. As Roxana says:
I want to see people like me represented on stage, media, a canvas, a scuplture, a portrait, a best selling book, and even an advert on the tube!"
Not many things could tempt me back to the city I joyfully absconded from 10 months ago to move to the South West. Talking about chronic illness grief is one of them. It’s also touchingly full circle for me to speak at Riverside Studios, a venue I spent a lot of time in as a teenager, hoping I’d do something creative myself one day. See you there!
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I suspect that GriefSick is not for everyone, all of the time. There have been points in the past eight years of my illness where I could not have engaged with this newsletter. Maybe that’s where you are now, and if so, I encourage you to protect yourself by not subscribing.
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