Stories

We tell stories about health and human experience. Our words and pictures make connections, provoke new thinking and share lived experiences. You can pitch a story to us.

  • Book extract

Permission to recover

When it comes to illness, sometimes the end is just the beginning. Gavin Francis argues why being given permission to recover is so important.

Part of Inside Our Books

18th century Mezzotint showing three women gathered around a medicine bottle. Text along the bottom reads 'The Female Consultation on the Blessed Medicine'.
  • In pictures

Herbal medicines and the early modern menopause

Held responsible for their own “rebellious distempers” – or menopausal symptoms – women had no choice but to keep quiet and resort to unpalatable concoctions in the hope of relief, as Julia Nurse explains.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Colourful three panel illustration. The first panel shows an illustration of two people hugging, they are both smiling. There is a speech bubble reading 'Ace people can still love'. The second panel shows two people naked in bed, smiling at each other. There is a speech bubble reading 'Ace people can still have sex'. The third panel shows a person with a child on their back with their arms around their neck. They are smiling at each other. A speech bubble reads 'Ace people can still have children'.
  • Comic

Shortcoming

Why “Asexual people can still...” is my least favourite phrase.

Part of Ace Joy

  • Article

Divining the world through an artist’s almanac

Amanda Couch's artists book, 'Huwawa in the Everyday: an almanac' is inspired by the entrail like folds of a medieval folding and its function as a guide for astrological divinations linking the body, health and the heavens. Like the original almanac her work is designed to be carried out into the wider world.

Part of Modern Encounters With a Medieval Almanac

Photographic detail of a fragile folding almanac from the 15th century. The almanac is open on a illuminated illustration showing a figure of a man whose arms are outstretched to the side. Surrounding him are various figures including a ram, 2 small children on his arms, a crab and a bull. He is surrounded by a house-like shape the outline of which is gilded. Outside of this shape is handwritten latin script.
  • Article

An animated almanac for the modern world

Discover why Thomas Coleman wanted to make a medieval folding almanac relevant to the modern world and see the film for yourself.

Part of Modern Encounters With a Medieval Almanac

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Get stuck into one of our books, and explore the complexities of the human condition.

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Photographic detail of a fragile folding almanac from the 15th century. The almanac is spotlit on a black background. It is photographed extremely close up so that the threads which make up its intricate woven green and pink fabric cover can be clearly seen.
  • In pictures

Following the maker’s path into the lost art of medieval embroidery

Textile maker Jacqui Carey unravels the mysteries of medieval embroidery by recreating the materials and techniques for herself, with the help of clues left by the original makers.

Part of Modern Encounters With a Medieval Almanac

Photograph of a fragile folding almanac from the 15th century. The almanac is spotlit on a black background. It has an intricate woven green and pink fabric cover and folded internal pages. It is rectangular in shape, but with a triangular taper on the left short end.
  • Article

The enigma of the medieval folding almanac

With its combination of rich, portable data and high-end style, this folding almanac could have been the medieval equivalent of the latest iPhone.

Part of Modern Encounters With a Medieval Almanac

Colourful four panel illustration. Panel 1 shows a person with shoulder length brown hair wearing glasses, a polka dot top and green dungarees standing in a field. There is a speech bubble coming from them which reads 'How do I explain that an orientation defined by a lack...' Panel 2 is a square, showing a cloudy sky with two birds. Panel 3 is a square, showing a field with two sheep mating and a third sheep standing on their own. Panel 4 is a square, showing a snail on a rock and a grassy field.
  • Comic

Lacking

I’m asexual, not broken.

Part of Ace Joy

Colourful papercut artwork with many separate elements on different levels creating a scene with depth, perspective and shadows. The scene shows a green grass horizon line with a tree growing up into a blue sky. The roots of the tree are visible in cross section as they extend into the earth beneath the grass. Nestled within the branches and roots are black and white drawings of human cell structures. Seated under the tree is a small white figure who is holding a cup and string to their ear. The string curls away into a distant hilltop where another small figure is standing speaking into the cup at the other end. Behind them is a golden doily shaped sun in the sky.
  • Article

The poetic language of health

When his doctors could only offer phone consultations, James Morland turned to poetry to make sense of the medical terms describing his symptoms and test results.

Photograph of a young child with blonde hair holding up a colourful camera. The camera obscures their face and they are wearing a camouflage jumper and tracksuit bottoms. There are some mountains behind them and the sky is blue and cloudy.
  • Article

Nurturing my autistic, gender-questioning child

As mother of an autistic child who questions her gender, Jude Lax describes cherishing her growing daughter as she explores her identity.

A colour illustration resting on a grey concrete textured background. The illustration shows three men in high spirits and leaping about. Two are holding bottles of beer, one is drinking from a glass. In the background, a man puts fuel on an open fire, while another pins up a poster.
  • In pictures

An emotional journey through drink

David Jesudason’s relationship with alcohol is complicated. Here he explores how booze can shape our behaviour, describing how he’s matured from underage drinker to cask-ale connoisseur.

Part of Inside Our Collections

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