Emily and Christian performed to a packed crowd at The Slaughtered Lamb in London on Saturday for the last night of her 2018 UK tour. You can see photos of the gig on Emily’s Facebook page.
Emily is doing a special one-off gig on Saturday 27 October at Gaunts House in Wimborne before starting her book tour in November. Dates and ticket links for all these gigs can be found here.
I am delighted to announce the publication of my third book ‘Meditation Mind’, a book of poetry inspired by my Buddhist practice.
‘Meditation Mind’ is a collection of short, stream-of-consciousness poems all written in 2015 while I was unable to play my musical instruments due to chronic tennis elbow. Struggling with depression, I was desperate to do something creative to distract my mind and so I started writing a poem each morning after meditating.
I’ve practised Tibetan Buddhism since 1999 and my morning practice is Sarasvati (who features on the cover of the book). I would finish my meditation, make a coffee and sit down to write a poem. All the poems in the book took less than a minute to write. They are unedited, exactly as they fell out of my head onto the page of my journal. I have no memory of writing any of them.
To celebrate the launch of ‘Meditation Mind’, I am doing a series of very intimate gigs in bookshops and Buddhist centres across the country. These events will be a mix of poetry readings from the book and acoustic songs with me on guitar and my husband Christian Dunham on double-bass. It would be lovely to see you if you can make any of the dates.
Thur 8 Nov Taunton – Brendon Books book tickets
Sat 10 Nov Oxford – Restore charity book tickets
Mon 12 Nov Bridport – The Book Shop book tickets
Fri 16 Nov Cardiff – Octavo’s Book Cafe & Wine Bar book tickets
Sat 17 Nov Manchester – Chapter One Books register
Thur 22 Nov Surrey – The Haslemere Bookshop book tickets
Sat 24 Nov Coventry – The Big Comfy Bookshop book tickets
Thur 29 Nov Frome – Hunting Raven Books book tickets
Fri 30 Nov Bath – St James Wine Vaults book tickets
Thur 6 Dec London – Sakya Buddhist Centre book tickets
Sat 8 Dec Bristol – Sakya Buddhist Centre book tickets
‘Meditation Mind’ is available to order in all good bookshops, from Amazon and through my website.
Dates for Emily’s UK tour to promote her new poetry book ‘Meditation Mind’ have been announced today. These very intimate gigs in bookshops and Buddhist centres across the country will be a mix of poetry readings and songs by Emily on acoustic guitar accompanied by her husband Christian Dunham on double-bass. There will be a short Q&A at the end. Info and ticket links can be found here. Please book early as places are limited.
Emily’s third book ‘Meditation Mind’ has just been published, a collection of poems inspired by her Buddhist meditation practice. Written at a time when she was unable to play her instruments due to chronic tennis elbow, poetry was Emily’s creative outlet while she struggled with a deep, bipolar depression. Desperate to do something creative while she couldn’t write or play songs, every morning after meditating she would write a poem in her journal. These short, stream-of-consciousness poems form the basis of this collection.
The poems in ‘Meditation Mind’ are about life, the dharma (Buddha’s teachings) and our search for happiness. Emily has practised Tibetan Buddhism for many years under the guidance of her teacher, the internationally renowned Buddhist scholar Lama Jampa Thaye.
‘Meditation Mind’ is available to order from all good bookshops, from Amazon or through her website. To celebrate its publication, Emily is doing a book tour in the UK later this year. Dates and details will be announced soon.
It’s been such a glorious summer and I’ve absolutely loved singing my songs up and down the country on my UK tour. Thanks to all of you who came to support us.
Final dates left are Royston Folk Club on Friday 31 August and my London gig at The Slaughtered Lamb in Clerkenwell on Saturday 15 September supported by the brilliant acoustic guitarist Ben Walker. Ticket links and info are here.
On Saturday 27 October I’m doing a very special concert in the ballroom at Gaunts House, a wonderful country mansion in Dorset which is now used as a spiritual retreat. Tickets are on sale now – please book early if you would like to come.
My new book of poetry ‘Meditation Mind’ has just gone to print and to celebrate its publication we’re going to be doing an acoustic tour of bookshops and Buddhist centres later this year. This will be a very intimate mix of poetry readings and songs with me on acoustic guitar and Christian on double-bass. Dates and details will be announced soon.
Next month we’re in Germany performing at a conference in Hamburg for the German Bipolar Society (DGBS) and then in Holland in December for the Dutch Bipolar Society.
I hope all’s well in your world and hope to see you at a gig someday soon.
xx
On Saturday 27 October Emily will be performing with Christian in the ballroom at Gaunts House, a country mansion in Wimborne, Dorset, now used as a spiritual retreat. Book early for this very special venue.
Emily is performing at a conference in Hamburg of the Bipolar Society of Germany (DGBS) in September and in Amersfoort in December for the Bipolar Society of Holland.
Emily’s visit to perform at Callington Road mental health hospital in Bristol on 5 July provoked a wonderful response from staff and patients:
“Many thanks for coming to Callington Road, Emily and performing for pretty much the entire duration of the tea party. You truly went above and beyond – especially in the ridiculous heat. I would like to thank you particularly for going on to the female PICU ward. For half an hour you completely changed the atmosphere in a truly bleak place. Your music and interaction with the patients inspired some incredibly traumatised and unwell women to step back into the present and remember that there is still hope. It was very appreciated by the staff and patients alike. You left a warm glow on that ward. Any chance you could make time to do a weekly acoustic set and song writing workshop there?! Only joking, many, many thanks.” Alex Hiding (OT department) and all the staff on ECH and at Callington Road.
Read Emily’s blog about her visit to Callington Road and find out more about her work promoting music for mental health.
Emily’s gig at the Biddulph Arms on 18 July has been moved to the Town Hall. Details and the booking link here.
They call this a garden but there’s no flowers here, just a dusty brown patch of grass surrounded by a high wall and an even higher fence. I’m standing with my guitar in the only square foot of shade. Staff stand and watch. I’ve been given an alarm.
I’m singing my song ‘Keep Walking’ and facing me, bouncing from foot to foot is a patient, rapping. And he’s brilliant. Other patients surround us, calling out song names ‘do you know this, do you know this’. Everyone wants to sing. This is the intensive care unit at Callington Road Hospital in Bristol.
A care worker appears from the other side of the fence. He and two other workers are supervising one patient. He is built like a brick shithouse with the voice of an angel. We sing ‘One Love’ together, the patients silently listening.
I say goodbye and follow the staff over to the women’s unit. There is the same bare backyard, no trees, no flowers. One woman sits on a bench in a daze, raw patches on her head where the hair came out. She tells me she’d been institutionalised for 18 years and when they finally let her out she couldn’t cope.
Another patient tries to sing to me and then wanders off to sit on the ground and cry. I play another song, terrified that every word and every note is causing her pain. But she looked so much brighter afterwards, says my friend Kirsty, like she needed it.
We go back to the garden with flowers and sit with the patients who are allowed to come off the wards. They’ve been drumming, and eating ice-cream. The air is hot and drowsy. Everyone’s relaxed, sitting in the sunshine. This is as close as you get to happiness in a mental health hospital.
I sing ‘Back Home’ and another Bob Marley song. Then ‘Start Over Again’, looking round at the faces of these people who have seen and suffered so much. I stand under the banner and smile for the camera. The NHS is 70 today. We have so much to be grateful for.
And then we leave, back out into the real world.
