Grief is something that will affect us all at some point, but it remains quite a taboo topic.

That’s a real shame because it makes bereaved people feel isolated, just at the moment when they may need the most support.

This creates a harmful cycle: because we don’t talk to people who are grieving about their grief, we are left badly prepared to deal with our own grief when it happens.

My project Elegies challenges this damaging taboo.

I’ve thought about and experienced grief for quite a long time. When I was a teenager, one of my best friends lost his Dad, and his grief was difficult to watch.

When my own Mum died, shortly before I turned 30, he was an enormous support to me.

Since then I’ve talked to many other people about their griefs and undergone training as a volunteer “grief companion”.

For my Elegies project, I’ve been talking to bereaved people about their lost loved one, and then writing a piece that honours them.

The conversations are very personal and often very moving, but what strikes me about them is not how sad they are, but how filled with love they are.

That’s because there’s no grief without love.

Please get in touch if you have experienced grief and would like to discuss me writing an Elegy for you, or if you know someone who might be interested.