‘Walk Eight Times to the Green Heart’: Creating Identity Through the Writing of Poetry During Cardiac Rehabilitation

Following coronary artery bypass surgery, the author undertook a sustained practice of poetry writing during the recovery and rehabilitation period, leading to the production of a book (Bayfield, 2010). Critical reflection on the process, with reference to concepts of narrative identity (eg Holstein and Gubrium, 2000; McAdams 1993) and writing as healing (eg Frank, 1995) leads to a definition of poetry writing in rehabilitation as a form of radical subjectivity. The poster illustrates the ways in which the self-narrative created through poetry is situated amongst, and interacts with, a number of other narratives including those produced by medical organisations, employers, family, patients, ‘survivors’, culture and the media. Grounded in an experiential account of poetry-writing within the context of a patient journey, the poster suggests ways in which poetry can help to demarcate personal space and create, or recreate, identity during the upheaval of life-threatening illness, major surgery and associated treatment.