Sharjah – You may be forgiven for mistaking the Poetry Prescription kiosk for an emergency booth, with its wooden medicine cabinets displaying neatly packed bottles of pills.
Strategically located at the main entrance of the Sharjah Expo Centre, where the 2025 Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is currently underway, the Poetry Prescription immediately captures your attention or perhaps your emotions.
As soon as you step inside the space, you immediately identify your ailment.
What makes the experience remarkable is that the remedy awaits you in dainty little bottles filled with words of healing, hope, and joy.
Though not meant for literal consumption or, as the label reads, “swallowing except metaphorically”, these poetic pills nourish the heart and soul.
Whether you’re feeling sad, emotionally drained, exhausted, missing a loved one, or simply in need of a pick-me-up, the Prescription Pharmacy offers carefully chosen doses of poetry to meet your needs.
Each small bottle contains a verse or quote from writers around the world.
The prescriptions are arranged under witty labels such as First Aid (for days when the world feels too much or overwhelming), Wild Remedy (for finding solace in nature, Calm (for moments of reflection), Becoming (for courage), Words of Love (for all matters of the heart), Comfort (to counteract or ease sorrow), Joy (for small doses of happiness), and Inspiration (for creative awakening).
For my own dose of the day, I selected a quote from American author Cheryl Strayed, which read: “Alone has always felt like an actual place to me, as if it weren’t a state of being, but rather a room where I could retreat to be who I really was.”
And it resonated deeply.
Founder of the Poetry Pharmacy, UK-based poet and teacher Deborah Alma, believes in the restorative power of literature.
Speaking at SIBF 2025, Alma explained that the idea behind the Poetry Pharmacy is simple yet profound: poetry can heal emotional wounds and bring comfort through words.
“In the UK, our bookshops are divided by emotional state, so you shop according to what you need,” Alma said.
“For instance, if you have a broken heart, there are books and other resources to help mend it.
“What you see here at the Book Fair is our poetry in pill bottles. Inside the capsule is a tiny scroll of paper with an extract from a poem to address that particular emotional state.”
Alma has worked with poetry in diverse settings with people living with dementia, in hospice care, with vulnerable women’s groups, and children.
Her journey with the Poetry Pharmacy began with her anthology Emergency Poet: An Anti-Stress Poetry Anthology, which explored how poems could serve as emotional remedies.
What started as a creative experiment has grown into an internationally recognised project, now operating through two bookshops in the UK.
Alma is also the editor of Emergency Poet, The Everyday Poet, #MeToo: Rallying Against Sexual Harassment, and Ten Poems of Happiness from Candlestick Press. Her most recent collection, National Trust: Nature Poems, was published in April 2023.
This year marks Alma’s second visit to Sharjah.
Her first was nine years ago when she joined a panel discussion with Canadian poet and illustrator Rupi Kaur.
“It’s lovely to be back,” She shared.
“People here are so kind and welcoming, and coming from a UK winter to the Sharjah sunshine feels like stepping into summer.”
Reflecting on the growing impact of her work, Alma noted, “It’s been quite amazing to see this small idea grow, from poems on prescription to an international movement that celebrates the healing power of words.”
The 44th annual Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), held under the theme “Between You and A Book,” continues at the Sharjah Expo Centre until November 16.
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For more information, visit www.sibf.com.
