Top 10 Most Popular Events at Good Grief Festival this March
Thousands of you have been busy booking your events for Good Grief Festival this March 27th and 28th. All events are free to attend and we are so excited about welcoming you all. Here are the events you’ve been booking the most…
1. The Grief School
The Grief School features 60+ hours of on-demand content including talks, webinars and workshops recorded at previous Good Grief festivals and events. Events can be filtered to provide you with relevant content specific to your experience of grief or bereavement: from childhood bereavement to pet loss; stillbirth to sudden death; finding healing to creative therapy practices for grief. We hope you find wisdom, comfort and healing at The Grief School.
All Grief School content will be available to watch on demand from 09:00 on March 27th to 20:00 on March 28th.
2. Michael Rosen + Julia Samuel in Conversation
This event is kindly sponsored by Marie Curie.
Join grief expert Julia Samuel MBE and writer Michael Rosen as they discuss and explore important themes such as love, loss, grief, creativity and the connections between them all.
Children’s novelist and poet Michael Rosen is a prolific writer and former Children’s Poet Laureate. Last year, Michael contracted coronavirus and spent seven weeks in intensive care at Whittington Hospital, six of them on a ventilator. Michael has written about this experience in Many Different Kinds of Love: A story of life, death, and the NHS, which will be published in March 2021.
3. David Kessler
This event is kindly sponsored by Marie Curie.
David Kessler is the world’s foremost expert on grief and co-author of the classic On Grief and Grieving with Elizabeth Kübler Ross. His experience with thousands of people on the edge of life and death has taught him the secrets to living a fulfilled life, even after life’s tragedies.
In his groundbreaking new work, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief, David journeys beyond the classic five stages to discover a sixth stage: meaning. Based on hard-earned personal experiences, as well as knowledge and wisdom earned through decades of work with the grieving, he introduces a critical sixth stage.
In this book, David gives readers a roadmap to remembering those who have died with more love than pain; he shows us how to move forwards in a way that honours our loved ones. David’s insight is both professional and intensely personal.
4. The Guilt Monster: Grief’s Complicated Side-Kick
One thing that is almost as inevitable as death is the guilt we experience after the death of a loved one. Could we have done something differently, or more often? Could we have devoted more quality time to them? Is there something we wish we’d said or done…or not said or done?
Regrets can be hidden away in shame and can fester, sometimes holding us back for years following the death of a loved one. In this enlightening discussion, Julia Samuel MBE seeks to demystify the role that guilt plays in bereavement. She will offer her expert insight, wisdom and compassion to those who are struggling with guilt in grief.
5. Reflections on Death + Dying
Our original ‘Reflections on Death and Dying’ event was a very memorable highlight at Good Grief Festival last October. It garnered such wonderful feedback that we are thrilled to welcome back our original panellists to explore a new topic: how we can find hope, even in these darkest hours.
Our guests include oncologist, Sam Guglani, and palliative care doctors, Kathryn Mannix and Rachel Clarke.
Questions we’ll bring to the table include how can hope and grief be reconciled; how do we balance the optimism of the Covid-19 vaccine, with grieving for those who have died; and is it too soon or disrespectful to start talking about hope?
6. The Grief Gift
Grief can be a powerful catalyst for change. In this conversation, our panellists will discuss finding new purpose and meaning after losing someone dear. We welcome: Stuart Lawrence – whose brother Stephen was murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1993; Simon Bray who created the Loved+ Lost project where family photos are restaged years after someone has died; writer and journalist Clover Stroud whose book The Wild Other documents her extraordinary journey to heal her broken heart after her beloved mother was left permanently brain damaged as a result of a riding accident when Clover was 16.
7. How Nature Teaches us to Grieve
In this session, we will look at the profound wisdom nature provides us with when facing our own losses, how we can be courageous in letting go and surrendering to our pain and, ultimately, how transformational that process can be.
8. Stand-Up Comedy Roulette with The Loss Foundation
Join national cancer bereavement charity, The Loss Foundation, for one of their famous comedy nights, bringing a sense of community and hilarity to you at home. Host, comedian and presenter, Tom Deacon will chat with 11 comedians – including James Acaster, Seann Walsh and Ed Gamble – about life, loss and comedy in a pandemic. What a mix! Join us for the hour to see famous faces pop up on the screen to make you laugh… despite the theme. This promises to be an unforgettable session and a one-off chance to see the best of Britain’s comedians all in one place. You will be able to comment and submit questions to your favourite comedians in this live interactive event!
9. The Power of Rest + Retreat in Difficult Times
Katherine May is the author of the beautiful book, Wintering: The Power or Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times (2020). The book looks deeper into the power and wisdom of retreating and repairing when we find ourselves in life’s dark seasons.
This timely book has captured the mood of the moment, as people everywhere struggle to cope and yearn for hope and the light at the end of the tunnel after a very difficult year.
‘Wintering is every bit as beautiful and healing as the season itself … this is truly a beautiful book’ – Elizabeth Gilbert.
10. What Harry Potter Teaches us about Grief
From Dementors to the Patronus Charm, this panel – featuring bestselling author Cathy Rentzenbrink – will delve into the magical world of Hogwarts, exploring what Harry Potter has to teach us about bereavement and depression and how we can use these stories to talk to children about grief and other mental health issues.