[Catherine Chandler]

What Mike Juster said.

[Sharon Fish Mooney]

Julie--I'll make some queries--I went to a workshop Sat sponsored by our Ohio Poetry Association on art therapy and poetry therapy; one of the presenters runs a poetry support group for women receiving chemo -- she may have other ideas as well. She is also a poet.

[Eileen Cleary]

Hi Julie,

I don't know if your friend will find this helpful, but there is a National Poetry Therapy Association and I believe they promote reading and writing poetry as expressive therapy (for many frail populations.) I think that these people may be able to help:

http://www.poetrytherapy.org/

Sometimes, talking to each individual and finding out what makes them tick, their personal story is a way to see which or if poetry might speak to them. Maybe having some varied anthologies on hand would suit most needs.

Good luck, Eileen

[dean peterson]

Julie, the therapeutic value of poems/poetry is interesting to consider in this regard, as well as issues of utility, potential impact of subject matter with respect to a specific group or individual, etc.

[Julie Steiner]

Thank you very much for all the info, folks. I will pass it along.

[Catherine McDonald]

Julie,

I share the sense of caution others have expressed here, but I know for a fact there are some who do find cancer poetry helpful. The work of the first poet featured in this article is not too heavy or dark - she's also a formalist!

Good luck in your search.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/0...try-in-cancer/