Datum
01. Oktober 2026
Online Workshop
Online Poetry Workshop: „Word Medicine”
October, 7–8.30pm (UK time)
Online via Zoom
Cost: By donation — all proceeds support survivors of the Bhopal Gas Disaster and their families
On the night of 2–3 December 1984, a Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, released methyl isocyanate and other toxic substances into densely populated neighbourhoods surrounding the plant. More than half a million people were exposed, and thousands died in the immediate aftermath. The consequences of the disaster, however, have extended across generations, with continuing health, environmental, social and political effects for survivors, their families and communities in Bhopal.
The Bhopal Medical Appeal is currently exploring the potential of poetry and creative writing as forms through which the history and continuing legacy of the disaster might be narrated, remembered and collectively engaged with. In June 2026, we began this exploration with Unprecedented Negligence: Collective and Individual Responses to the Bhopal Disaster, an online poetry workshop facilitated by poet and writer Hazel Stewart. We are now pleased to invite you to Word Medicine, the second workshop in this series.
Facilitated by Hazel, the 90-minute workshop marks the 30th anniversary of the Sambhavna Trust Clinic, which has provided community-based healthcare to survivors and their families for three decades. Drawing on poems by Bhopali poets and others, Hazel will use poetry as a starting point for finding our own words. Through creative writing exercises and wordplay, we will explore healing, love, hope and care, while reflecting on the forms of creativity, resilience and collective care that have emerged in Bhopal over the past four decades, alongside the continuing struggle for justice.
No previous writing experience is required. Whether you regularly write poetry or have never taken part in a creative writing workshop, you are warmly invited to join us.
Book your place via Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/word-medicine-poetry-workshop-tickets-2000962426482
We invite you to join us as we continue to explore what poetry can make possible in remembering, responding to, and telling the story of Bhopal.
