Rachel Kelly at The Idler Academy

At a certain point, juggling motherhood and a writing career became almost impossible for Rachel Kelly; the Times' former journalist  was stopped in her tracks by the sudden, stifling onset of depression . During her journey back to mental health Rachel discovered the healing power of words. In her memoir Black Rainbow she charts the moving process of recovery and the way in which poems can become a lifeline .

The book is at once a deeply personal tale of self-healing and a collection of the poetry that aided recovery. It is published in collaboration with mental health charities SANE and United Response as a way of raising awareness about mental illness, and with all author proceeds from the book going to these charities. To celebrate the launch of Black Rainbow, Rachel Kelly will join Idler Academy director (and partner of founder Tom Hodgkinson) Victoria Hull to discuss how exactly words can heal, and where to find the right literary medicine. Rachel will share some of the poems that helped remedy her own suffering and highlight the ways in which they help others.

Alongside regular features for The Times Rachel wrote a weekly column exploring the world of alternative medicine. This experience, combined with a lifelong love of poetry (she edited the best-selling children’s poetry app and anthology IF: A Treasury of Poems for Almost Every Possibility) makes for a fascinating perspective on offbeat ways of tackling the devastating effects of depression. This will be an eye-opening insight into mental illness and provide a new way of considering the wealth of words that we all have at our fingertips.