Background: Good Grief Festival was originally planned as a face-to-face festival about grief and... more Background: Good Grief Festival was originally planned as a face-to-face festival about grief and bereavement. Due to COVID-19, it was held online over 3 days in October 2020. Objective: To evaluate the festival’s reach and impact. Design: Pre/post evaluation Methods: Pre-festival online surveys assessed reasons for attending and attitudes to bereavement across four items (fear of saying the wrong thing, avoiding talking to someone bereaved, knowing what to do if someone bereaved was struggling, knowing how to help). Post-festival online surveys evaluated audience experiences and the four attitude items. Free-text responses, analysed using thematic analysis, generated suggestions for improvement and general comments. Results: Between 5003 and 6438 people attended, with most attending two to five events. Pre-festival survey participants ( n = 3785) were mostly women (91%) and White (91%). About 9% were from Black or minoritised ethnic communities. About 14% were age ⩾65 years, 16% age ⩽34 years. Around 75% were members of the public, teachers, students or ‘other’; 25% academics, clinicians or bereavement counsellors. A third had been bereaved in the last year; 6% had never been bereaved. People attended to learn about grief/bereavement (77%), be inspired (52%) and feel part of a community (49%). Post-festival participants ( n = 685) reported feeling part of a community (68%), learning about grief/bereavement (68%) and being inspired (66%). 89% rated the festival as excellent/very good and 75% agreed that they felt more confident talking about grief after attending. Higher ratings and confidence were associated with attending more events. Post-festival attitudes were improved across all four items ( p < 0.001). Attendees appreciated the festival, particularly valuing the online format, opportunities for connection during lockdown and the diversity and quality of speakers. Suggestions included improving registration, more interactive events and less content. Conclusion: Good Grief Festival successfully reached a large public audience, with benefit in engagement, confidence and community-building. Evaluation was critical in shaping future events. Findings suggest festivals of this nature can play a central role in increasing death- and grief-literacy within a public health approach.
Nearly all British children will be bereaved of someone close to them by the time they turn eight... more Nearly all British children will be bereaved of someone close to them by the time they turn eighteen and, with the COVID-19 pandemic and world humanitarian crises across the news and social media, they are being exposed to more anxiety about death than ever before. There is a growing awareness that grief education needs to be embedded into the UK national curriculum to help school pupils think and talk about death and prepare them to manage grief or support others. As it stands, although excellent teaching resources exist, there is no requirement for schools to cover grief, death and loss and many pupils have no classes about these difficult topics. This article provides a narrative review of research on grief education in schools. We examine six key questions, summarising: evidence that children benefit from talking about grief, death and loss; studies on when and how to integrate the topics into the curriculum; and ways to overcome the teacher training gap. Following the lead of...
In 2022, Helen Acklam, Lesel Dawson and Julian Brigstocke worked together on a project that explo... more In 2022, Helen Acklam, Lesel Dawson and Julian Brigstocke worked together on a project that explored the relationships between grief, creativity, memory, and place. It was inspired by Acklam’s creative project ‘what it is to be there’, a personal exploration of the grief she felt after the death of her baby in the early seventies. This booklet provides an introduction to the life experiences that fed into this project, its creative practice and artworks, and the interdisciplinary creative research that grew out of it.
Bereavment: Journal of Grief and Responses to Death, 2023
This article consolidates the case for grief education in schools. We discuss six key questions t... more This article consolidates the case for grief education in schools. We discuss six key questions to examine evidence that children benefit from talking about grief, death and loss; the current provision for grief education in UK schools; the obstacles to teaching these topics and ways to overcome them; and the potential further implications of a policy change. Following the lead of child bereavement charities, research and new national reports on UK bereavement support, we demonstrate the need for mandatory grief education in all four countries of the UK and offer evidence-based recommendations for its implementation.
<p>Revengers, as has been frequently observed, are artists who devise intricate tortures bo... more <p>Revengers, as has been frequently observed, are artists who devise intricate tortures both to overreach the crimes that have come before and to invest their acts of violence with specific meanings. But what happens when the revenge does not go to plan? Both John Webster's <italic>The Duchess of Malfi</italic> and John Ford's <italic>The Broken Heart</italic> feature victims who take charge of their suffering, seizing theatrical power in a manner that challenges the meaning of their punishment. The shift in focus encountered in these plays – away from the witty plotting of the revenger and towards the courage of the victim – corresponds to a wider shift that Mary Beth Rose has identified in the construction and gendering of heroism in the early modern period, in which there is a move away from the heroics of action towards the heroism of endurance. The chapter maintains, however, that the heroics of endurance are gendered: while in both plays heroic dying functions as a form of self-authorship, nevertheless differences between the portrayal of the Duchess of Malfi and Ithocles suggest that masochistic self-sacrifice is perceived to be natural for women and unnatural for men.</p>
In Jonathan Swift&#x27;s “The Lady&#x27;s Dressing Room” Strephon steals into his mistres... more In Jonathan Swift&#x27;s “The Lady&#x27;s Dressing Room” Strephon steals into his mistress Celia&#x27;s chamber, only to find that it is utterly unlike the paradise he has been imagining. Filled with cosmetics and dirty clothing, the squalid room reveals the artistry that goes into creating ...
<p>This chapter examines revenge narratives in relation to gender, asking whether depiction... more <p>This chapter examines revenge narratives in relation to gender, asking whether depictions of vengeance reinforce conservative gender roles, interrogate the 'masculine' values that society prizes, or establish new ways of conceptualizing women and men. It demonstrates that while revenge is frequently conceptualized as a quintessential masculine activity, it is simultaneously seen to unleash the female Furies and the violent, 'feminine' emotions that threaten a man's reason and self-control. It surveys scholarly debate about female avengers, asking whether they should be interpreted as honorary men, heroes in their own right, monstrous inversions of gender norms, or conduits through which male subjectivity is formed. The chapter also examines grief, demonstrating how women use lamentation in ancient Greek literature and medieval Icelandic sagas to express grievances, directing revenge action and, at times, influencing wider political events. It argues, however, that female lamentation becomes discredited in later periods and detached from the revenge process. In early modern literature, for example, the revenger is typically also the mourner, whose grief inhibits the revenge process. The change in lamentation's status and function has wider implications for women's roles and for the gendering of the male revenger.</p>
Background: Good Grief Festival was originally planned as a face-to-face festival about grief and... more Background: Good Grief Festival was originally planned as a face-to-face festival about grief and bereavement. Due to COVID-19, it was held online over 3 days in October 2020. Objective: To evaluate the festival’s reach and impact. Design: Pre/post evaluation Methods: Pre-festival online surveys assessed reasons for attending and attitudes to bereavement across four items (fear of saying the wrong thing, avoiding talking to someone bereaved, knowing what to do if someone bereaved was struggling, knowing how to help). Post-festival online surveys evaluated audience experiences and the four attitude items. Free-text responses, analysed using thematic analysis, generated suggestions for improvement and general comments. Results: Between 5003 and 6438 people attended, with most attending two to five events. Pre-festival survey participants ( n = 3785) were mostly women (91%) and White (91%). About 9% were from Black or minoritised ethnic communities. About 14% were age ⩾65 years, 16% age ⩽34 years. Around 75% were members of the public, teachers, students or ‘other’; 25% academics, clinicians or bereavement counsellors. A third had been bereaved in the last year; 6% had never been bereaved. People attended to learn about grief/bereavement (77%), be inspired (52%) and feel part of a community (49%). Post-festival participants ( n = 685) reported feeling part of a community (68%), learning about grief/bereavement (68%) and being inspired (66%). 89% rated the festival as excellent/very good and 75% agreed that they felt more confident talking about grief after attending. Higher ratings and confidence were associated with attending more events. Post-festival attitudes were improved across all four items ( p &lt; 0.001). Attendees appreciated the festival, particularly valuing the online format, opportunities for connection during lockdown and the diversity and quality of speakers. Suggestions included improving registration, more interactive events and less content. Conclusion: Good Grief Festival successfully reached a large public audience, with benefit in engagement, confidence and community-building. Evaluation was critical in shaping future events. Findings suggest festivals of this nature can play a central role in increasing death- and grief-literacy within a public health approach.
Nearly all British children will be bereaved of someone close to them by the time they turn eight... more Nearly all British children will be bereaved of someone close to them by the time they turn eighteen and, with the COVID-19 pandemic and world humanitarian crises across the news and social media, they are being exposed to more anxiety about death than ever before. There is a growing awareness that grief education needs to be embedded into the UK national curriculum to help school pupils think and talk about death and prepare them to manage grief or support others. As it stands, although excellent teaching resources exist, there is no requirement for schools to cover grief, death and loss and many pupils have no classes about these difficult topics. This article provides a narrative review of research on grief education in schools. We examine six key questions, summarising: evidence that children benefit from talking about grief, death and loss; studies on when and how to integrate the topics into the curriculum; and ways to overcome the teacher training gap. Following the lead of...
In 2022, Helen Acklam, Lesel Dawson and Julian Brigstocke worked together on a project that explo... more In 2022, Helen Acklam, Lesel Dawson and Julian Brigstocke worked together on a project that explored the relationships between grief, creativity, memory, and place. It was inspired by Acklam’s creative project ‘what it is to be there’, a personal exploration of the grief she felt after the death of her baby in the early seventies. This booklet provides an introduction to the life experiences that fed into this project, its creative practice and artworks, and the interdisciplinary creative research that grew out of it.
Bereavment: Journal of Grief and Responses to Death, 2023
This article consolidates the case for grief education in schools. We discuss six key questions t... more This article consolidates the case for grief education in schools. We discuss six key questions to examine evidence that children benefit from talking about grief, death and loss; the current provision for grief education in UK schools; the obstacles to teaching these topics and ways to overcome them; and the potential further implications of a policy change. Following the lead of child bereavement charities, research and new national reports on UK bereavement support, we demonstrate the need for mandatory grief education in all four countries of the UK and offer evidence-based recommendations for its implementation.
<p>Revengers, as has been frequently observed, are artists who devise intricate tortures bo... more <p>Revengers, as has been frequently observed, are artists who devise intricate tortures both to overreach the crimes that have come before and to invest their acts of violence with specific meanings. But what happens when the revenge does not go to plan? Both John Webster's <italic>The Duchess of Malfi</italic> and John Ford's <italic>The Broken Heart</italic> feature victims who take charge of their suffering, seizing theatrical power in a manner that challenges the meaning of their punishment. The shift in focus encountered in these plays – away from the witty plotting of the revenger and towards the courage of the victim – corresponds to a wider shift that Mary Beth Rose has identified in the construction and gendering of heroism in the early modern period, in which there is a move away from the heroics of action towards the heroism of endurance. The chapter maintains, however, that the heroics of endurance are gendered: while in both plays heroic dying functions as a form of self-authorship, nevertheless differences between the portrayal of the Duchess of Malfi and Ithocles suggest that masochistic self-sacrifice is perceived to be natural for women and unnatural for men.</p>
In Jonathan Swift&#x27;s “The Lady&#x27;s Dressing Room” Strephon steals into his mistres... more In Jonathan Swift&#x27;s “The Lady&#x27;s Dressing Room” Strephon steals into his mistress Celia&#x27;s chamber, only to find that it is utterly unlike the paradise he has been imagining. Filled with cosmetics and dirty clothing, the squalid room reveals the artistry that goes into creating ...
<p>This chapter examines revenge narratives in relation to gender, asking whether depiction... more <p>This chapter examines revenge narratives in relation to gender, asking whether depictions of vengeance reinforce conservative gender roles, interrogate the 'masculine' values that society prizes, or establish new ways of conceptualizing women and men. It demonstrates that while revenge is frequently conceptualized as a quintessential masculine activity, it is simultaneously seen to unleash the female Furies and the violent, 'feminine' emotions that threaten a man's reason and self-control. It surveys scholarly debate about female avengers, asking whether they should be interpreted as honorary men, heroes in their own right, monstrous inversions of gender norms, or conduits through which male subjectivity is formed. The chapter also examines grief, demonstrating how women use lamentation in ancient Greek literature and medieval Icelandic sagas to express grievances, directing revenge action and, at times, influencing wider political events. It argues, however, that female lamentation becomes discredited in later periods and detached from the revenge process. In early modern literature, for example, the revenger is typically also the mourner, whose grief inhibits the revenge process. The change in lamentation's status and function has wider implications for women's roles and for the gendering of the male revenger.</p>
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Papers by Lesel Dawson
talking about grief, death and loss; the current provision for grief education in UK schools; the obstacles to teaching these topics and ways to overcome them; and the potential further implications of a policy change. Following the lead of child bereavement charities, research and new national reports on UK bereavement support, we demonstrate the need for mandatory grief education in all four countries of the UK and offer evidence-based recommendations for its implementation.
talking about grief, death and loss; the current provision for grief education in UK schools; the obstacles to teaching these topics and ways to overcome them; and the potential further implications of a policy change. Following the lead of child bereavement charities, research and new national reports on UK bereavement support, we demonstrate the need for mandatory grief education in all four countries of the UK and offer evidence-based recommendations for its implementation.