You have reached the online home of Helen Johnson.  I am a poet/researcher available for research and creative consultancy work, project evaluation, poetry performances, event organisation, public speaking, and performance poetry workshops (adults and children).  To explore my various social scientific, educational and artistic dimensions please click on one of the tabs above.  Alternatively, for two-way interaction, please e-mail me.

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Photo by Bohdan Piasecki
 

I am a poet and an academic, which means that I not only live in an ivory tower, but can describe it, using vivid imagery and interesting metaphors...

• My article 'Using the Arts to Support the Arts: A Creative, Community-University Partnership Approach to Building Arts Inclusivity in Economically-Deprived Communities', co-authored with Nicole Monney, is now available in the online, open access journal 'Forum: Qualitative Social Research.'

• I am delivering a workshop on participatory arts-based research for the 2021 National Centre for Research Methods e-Festival in October 2021.  For more information and to book tickets, click here.

• I am pleased to have a chapter on collaborative poetics in a new text on performative social science edited by Kip Jones.  The book is due to be published early in 2022 and is available for pre-order now here.

• In early 2021 I co-authored a chapter on intersections between UK and US spoken word with Jacob Sam-La Rose for what looks set to be a seminal text in the field: 'Spoken Word in the UK.'  Jacob and I will be joining Peter Bearder and Lucy English to talk about this in a free, online panel discussion for the Bristol Poetry Institute on Tuesday 23rd November 2021, 19:30-20:45. For more information and to book tickets, click here.

• I have an article in the July 2020 edition of The Psychologist about the value of the arts (particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic) and why it is important to support these in a way that nurtures everyone in society.  You can read the article for free here.

• Sadly, as with other events, Glastonbury Festival 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  We have created an amazing video playlist for the Poetry&Words stage on our Youtube Channel however as part of the online festival celebrations for 2020.  If you applied to perform on the stage in 2019, there is no need to reapply for 2022, as we will be keeping all applications for the stage on file.  For further updates keep an eye on our blog.