An interview with Denton House Martin from Poets With Parkinson and Parkinson’s Art on June 22, 2023 by George Ackerman, Ph.D, J.D.
Biography
Martin Pickard was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2020 after several years struggling with various symptoms and treatments. Accepting retirement after a long career in the property and facilities management profession, which was recognized by the receipt of two industry lifetime achievement awards, he started exploring poetry and painting as part of coming to terms with the condition and its impact on his life. A Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered surveyors, recipient of the Freedom of the City of London, and an award-winning business writer he was surprised to discover a surge of creativity not apparent in 50 years of practical business life. He now writes and performs poetry based on his life experiences and the new perspective that Parkinson’s brings. He also enjoys creating digital art where his tremor is less of a factor and is experimenting with watercolors and acrylics. Martin lives in Bedfordshire with his wife and cocker spaniel and has four children and four grandchildren. He is a co-founder of “Poets With Parkinson’s” and the host of their monthly virtual open mike night.
Please tell me a little about your background and what got you involved with awareness.
I’m Martin Pickard from Poets with Parkinson’s. I live in Bedfordshire, England with my wife and cocker spaniel and I’m a retired facility management consultant. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2020 age 66 during the COVID lockdown after 3 years of struggling to find out what was wrong with me. When the diagnosis arrived, it was a relief to finally put a name to it. My symptoms were mainly non-motor, affecting sleep, brain function, memory, and mood along with classics like reduced arm swing and loss of sense of smell. At that stage I had little in the way of tremor or dystonia. Things have moved on a bit now but advocating for research into earlier diagnosis is one of the causes I am keen to support.
Can you tell me more about Poets with Parkinson’s?
Poets With Parkinson’s is a collective of poets who happen to have Parkinson’s. We managed to crowdfund enough to create a home for ourselves on the net which is www.poetswall.com The objective is to provide a safe place where Poets with Parkinson’s can come together, share their work, and collaborate. We also want to give those that want it a platform to showcase their work. We’re a non-profit making, self-run online community open to anyone with Parkinson’s who is writing poetry, no matter their experience or location. Although we started as a UK group, as part of a now defunct organization called Parkinson’s Art, our members come from all over the world.
What is your passion and how did you get involved in Parkinson’s awareness and hope for a cure?
I first wrote and performed poetry in the 1960’s as a teenager but life and a busy business career put an end to that but when I started struggling with the early impact of the condition I started writing again as therapy. I found I couldn’t stop; The words just kept coming. As everything was in lockdown I started exploring online and I found whole groups of people just like me; All with Parkinson’s and all writing poetry. That community is what has now grown into the Poets With Parkinson’s collective. I’ve discovered since that there is a known phenomenon connecting a surge in creativity with a sizable percentage of people with Parkinson’s. This fascinates me. Creativity is a gift and Parkinson’s takes away so much. Has it really given us this different way of thinking? Why is that? What can we do about it? I’m full of questions.
What type of goals do individuals with Parkinson’s have when working with you?
For many poets with Parkinson’s the goal is simply to connect in a safe setting with other folk who understand how they are feeling and who share a common interest. Our website, forum and online events give them that opportunity. Others want to improve their writing through mutual support, poetry challenges and workshops. Some want to enter competitions, see their work in print, and perform in public. Again, we can support them in that. For example, on World Parkinson’s Day 2023 through working with Parkinson’s UK some of our members had poetry displayed on billboards all over the UK. Some of us even had our words displayed on the big screens in London’s Piccadilly Circus. It was very exciting.
What type of training and how long are the programs?
I describe myself as a “shaken word artist” and perform at open mic spoken word events both online and here in the UK. I can also be seen performing on TikTok and YouTube using the @theshakenword handle. I share poetry about what it’s like to live with Parkinson’s as well as more general pieces and am always surprised by the reaction they receive. No matter how big or small the crowd, there are always some people there who have a connection to someone with the disease and they are always very appreciative of the powerful impact that poetry can have in raising awareness. I also host our own Poets With Parkinson’s open mic event on Zoom on the last Tuesday of each month. This event is free and open to anyone who is interested in attending.
What effect can your advocacy through Poets for Parkinson’s have on an individual with Parkinson’s?
Poetry is a powerful medium for communication using language, symbolism and storytelling to convey complex and emotional content in ways that the most persuasive orator cannot reach. Poetry can touch people’s hearts and help them to process their own ideas and concerns. As personal therapy, poetry has therapeutic, educational, growth, and community-building capacities. supporting personal growth, resilience, and greater self-awareness. Poets with Parkinson’s are trying to support our community at all these levels.
What would you like to see as a future goal for Poets for Parkinson’s?
The community has grown, and I expect that to continue as people find us. Now we are limited to English language poetry only, but we have held some events in German. Given the global nature of Parkinson’s I would love to see more opportunities for poets in other parts of the world to share their poetry in their native tongue. We are also working on our first proper poetry anthology which I hope will come out this year and will be sold in aid of Parkinson’s charities. I hope that this will become a regular event.
What events do you participate in?
We’ve had face to face readings and displays at Parkinson’s related art exhibitions in the past and hope to find opportunities to do that again. We’ve held joint meetings with other poetry groups in the USA and Germany. We also contributed to a research event organized by Parkinson’s Europe exploring Creativity and Parkinson’s at Plymouth University. However, our big annual focus has been World FM Day. It’s a wonderful day for spreading the word about Parkinson’s issues across all media platforms especially social media and poetry is very useful for such an occasion. Our collaboration with Parkinson’s UK on this has been very successful and we expect that to continue.
How does Poets for Parkinson’s also assist the caregivers?
Although our membership focus is on Poets with Parkinson’s we welcome poetry or attendance by anybody touched by Parkinson who shares our interest in poetry. That includes carers, supporters, families, health-workers. The therapeutic benefits of poetry and the support of a like-minded community are as important for them as it is for us Parkies.
How can someone get in touch? What is your website?
Anyone interested in Poets With Parkinson’s should take a look at www.poetswall.com If they want to reach out to me directly I can be contacted on martin@poetswithparkinsons.com
If you had one final statement or quote you could leave for the Parkinson’s community, what would it be?
Be kind to yourself and those you meet; Find your voice – whether that’s as an advocate or an artist, a fundraiser or a folksinger, a potter or a poet; Together our bright and brilliant community will bring an end to Parkinson’s; We just need to keep putting one foot in front of another every day. Peace and Love.