Between Care and Writing
What began as a flight from writing led to a deeper understanding of care—not as moral virtue, but as undervalued, essential labor. In this episode, poet and writer Will Harris shares reflections from his time working in East London care homes during the pandemic’s aftermath. Harris discusses the limits of storytelling, the “texture of speech,” and how poetry informs his new project capturing the voices and failures embedded in the UK’s public care system.
Atelier is produced by the Columbia Global Paris Center, a Columbia University initiative housed at Reid Hall.
Will Harris is the author of poetry books RENDANG (2020) and Brother Poem (2023). He has won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection and was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. He co-translated Habib Tengour’s Consolatio (Poetry Translation Centre) with Delaina Haslam in 2022, and helps facilitate the Southbank New Poets Collective with Vanessa Kisuule.
