Bellevue Makes Literary History

The Bellevue Literary Press is honored with the Pulitzer Prize. Paul Harding’s debut novel–Tinkers–won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in fiction.

The Bellevue Literary Press was founded in 2005 as a sister organization to the Bellevue Literary Review. The BLPress publishes literary and authoritative fiction and nonfiction at the nexus of the arts and the sciences, with a special focus on medicine.

This is the first small publisher to win a Pulitzer since “Confederacy of Dunces” in 1981. And it’s certainly a first for a public hospital!

Tinkers is a poetic novel in which a dying man explores his own life and the generations before him. It is an elegiac meditation on love, loss, and the fierce beauty of nature.

Big congratulations to author Paul Harding, editor Erika Goldman, publisher Jerome Lowenstein. And congrats to Bellevue Hospital and NYU Dept of Medicine for supporting the Bellevue Literary Press.

Become a Fan of the Bellevue Literary Press on Facebook.

Read how the New York Times missed this one….

Check out all the books at the Bellevue Literary Press.

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Danielle Ofri is a writer and practicing internist at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital. She is the editor-in-chief of the Bellevue Literary Review. Her newest book is Medicine in Translation: Journeys with my Patients.

View the YouTube book trailer.

You can follow Danielle on Twitter and Facebook, or visit her homepage.

Artopsy

It's nearly time for the annual art exhibition from Imperial's Medical Humanities Students. This is a real celebration of creativity. The official opening is on 11 May at 7.30 pm -- open to all, and no need to RSVP.

Birkbeck MA in Medical Humanities

There is a brand new MA in Medical Humanities being offered at Birkbeck. Here are the details:

This two-year, part-time programme for clinicians, and other healthcare professionals, focuses on improving patient care through a deeper understanding of the Humanities disciplines (Literary Studies, Cultural & Critical Studies, History, Law, Philosophy, Art, Film and Visual Studies).

Taught by Birkbeck College and KSS Deanery, the MA draws together the emergent fields of Medical Humanities and Integrated Medicine to explore, critique and develop the daily practice of individual doctors in their interactions with patients and cultures.

This programme offers students a unique opportunity to encounter the rich insights of the Humanities about culture, the body and what it means to be human, as these have direct relevance upon clinical practice.

Students will acquire and refine skills in verbal and written communication, as well as research and critical analysis. They will engage with non-Western models of medical practice and undertake a research placement in a non-Western medical setting in London, or abroad.

Our location in Bloomsbury offers excellent access to all the major research libraries in London, including Senate House Library, the British Library and the Wellcome Collection.

The unique link between Birkbeck College and KSS Deanery means that this programme combines world-class research-led Humanities teaching with an established understanding of the real-life experience of clinical practice and patient care.

For more information about the course, and about Birkbeck, visit: www.bbk.ac.uk/eh/. Alternatively you are welcome to contact the Admissions tutor, Dr Jo Winning (j.winning@bbk.ac.uk).

To apply online, visit:
www.bbk.ac.uk/study/pg/newcoursesfor2010/medhum.html

Photographing Alzheimer's

There is a beautiful and moving (in both sense of the word) gallery of photographs of the surgeon Ed Akell, taken by his wife Judith Fox, since his diagnosis with Alzheimer's twelve years ago. These are emotive portraits and really tell a story -- testimony to the power that still photography retains. The photographs are on display at the Cork Street Gallery in London this weekend. But the slideshow on the BBC with a commentary by Judith Fox is a good substitute if you can't make it.