LIRIC Journal

Research and writing for wellbeing

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What is the LIRIC Journal?

The Lapidus International Research and Innovation Community (LIRIC) Journal is an international, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal. It aims to provide a forum for contemporary critical debate on the relationship between the written (and spoken) word and (mental) health and wellbeing. This includes writing as a social practice.

The LIRIC journal is the latest initiative taken by the long-standing body, Lapidus International. This organisation was originally set up in 1996 to support writing and wellbeing programmes in the UK. This body has developed a wide membership of creative writing practitioners who work across a variety of sectors including education, health and the arts, in community and voluntary, as well as private settings.

The journal responds to the need of Lapidus members to see their practice placed within scholarly and academic contexts that draw on diverse theories and frameworks of knowledge. The LIRIC Journal is keen to enlist a broader constituency of interested and related academics and researchers across disciplines who are currently active and interested in this area.

You can download all our current issues from the archive here:

Go to the LIRIC Journal Archive

Focus and Scope

The LIRIC journal provides an interdisciplinary space to extend and develop practice-based and other research that explores the relationship between creative writing and health and wellbeing. Our aim is foster debate that can support the growing acknowledgement of the role of the written and spoken word in supporting mental and physical health and wellbeing.

We publish articles, essays and reviews by writers, clinical and cultural practitioners and researchers from diverse perspectives who use writing in different contexts to this effect. We aim to evidence how these processes take place and what effects they can produce, in different contexts. We are also interested in examining the wider economic, political and policy contexts that can support and develop this field of work.

We hope to advance the field of writing for wellbeing; we see the Journal as a vehicle to foster research projects through a variety of collaborative partnerships with a wider community of interest. We also welcome work that falls outside of the textual tradition, incorporating or encompassing performance, poetry, spoken word, music, art, and film. We are especially interested in work in these areas:

1. the processes whereby words and writing can be shown to bring about health benefits and the theories used to underpin these processes;
2. the role of writing, embodiment and affectivity;
3. the use of writing for wellbeing online and in digital cultures;
4. the development of ethical practices and regulatory frameworks;
5. the political possibilities that arise from understandings of the role of writing in collective wellbeing.

Publication Frequency

The journal is currently published annually. Those wishing to submit contributions for consideration should send their submissions to the editor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Open access policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Authors of articles published remain the copyright holders and grant third parties the right to use, reproduce, and share the article according to the Creative Commons license agreement.