Collection of written portraits inspired by conversations with people living with cancer at Maggie’s West and staff working in cancer care at Charing Cross Hospital. Funded by The Wellcome Trust. Go to my publications page to read the book.
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‘Written Portraits’ poetry residency
Associate artist on ‘People Like You’ – a research study on personalisation in NHS led by Goldsmiths, Imperial and Warwick Universities, funded by Wellcome Trust:
‘The purpose of Di Sherlock’s poetry residency is to understand how visitors to Maggie’s West London and hospital staff discuss their experiences and express their identities in individual/group conversations. Her poetic practice involves conversations that result in ‘Written Portraits’. The ‘portraits’ are transactional – they are gifted back and discussed with participants and where appropriate the poem reworked until all sides are happy. Through this process we are interested in understanding the wider contexts of care, medicine, and participation.’
Mary’s Hand at The Tower of London Sept 30th & 1st Oct 2020
Mary’s Hand
Chamber opera on the life of ‘Bloody’ Mary Tudor with composer Martin Bussey and Mezzo Clare McCaldin. Libretto and direction by Di. Premiered Tete a Tete, UK touring includes The Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester 2019.
The independent *****’Outstanding’
‘Pussy Protest’ at London College of Fashion MA Show December 2017
Di in Kelly Ryan’s performative costume morphing from Suffragette to Pussy Rioter at The Lilian Baylis Theatre, director Peta Lily.
Overdrive
Based on 80’s cyber- punk classic Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson.
The Aleph – Overdrive
Diep-Haven Festival – ‘Written Portraits’ Poetry Reading in Newhaven Library
Written Portraits
Face to Face
My Written Portraits are part of the Face a Face Diep-Haven Festival Exhibition in Dieppe.
Poems inspired by stories told in open conversation during a residency at Glyndebourne and at The Hillcrest Community Centre, Newhaven.
Face à Face
The Wardrobe Project
Exploring in/visibility as an older woman – wardrobe choices and attitudes to ageing. R&D stage.
Di Sherlock – The Wardrobe Project
Memory Poems – Free Event in the Reading Room at The Wellcome Collection
Thursday 16th June at 15.00
Wellcome Collection
183 Euston Road
London NW1 2BE
020 7611 7251
A reading from The Memory Poems – stories gifted in conversation with people living with Early Stage Alzheimer’s and their Carers. Here’s a poem inspired by chat over tea and cake.
The Dahlias
My father’s dahlias surprised the world.
Half red, half yellow, they were his children,
Brought to life by magic fingers
And the Hand of Allah
Or God
Or Krishna.
This is India before Partition.
In the Hill Station garden in Poona
Four brothers and two sisters,
Likewise the children of Khan.
How the time has passed
I’ve no idea.
From tennis and badminton
To foxtrot and tango and waltz.
How I waltzed!
I waltzed at cocktail parties,
Dinner parties,
Private Members’ Clubs,
But my husband did not dance.
He sat and talked as I whirled
In and out of the Vienna Woods,
Knowing that he would give me the moon
If I asked.
Imagine,
Fifty years of marriage,
So many moons!
After Partition
The houses were sold and they put up flats
And the past was another country.
But I remember
My father’s dahlias surprised the world.