Sheila Hollins (GB)
Sheila Clare Hollins, Baroness Hollins (born 22 June 1946), is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability at St George’s, University of London, and was created a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords on 15 November 2010 taking the title Baroness Hollins, of Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton and of Grenoside in the County of South Yorkshire.
Baroness Hollins founded the visual literacy charity Books Beyond Words in 1989 to produce word free books for people who find pictures easier to understand than words. She is chair and series editor for Beyond Words.
Baroness Hollins has published extensively about mental health, and people with intellectual disabilities.
Storytelling in Pictures – realism in practice. Attending to feelings and relationships throughout people’s lives
Professor Sheila the Baroness Hollins, University of London with dr hab. Lucyna Talejko-Kwiatkowska, University of the Arts in Poznań
Sheila Hollins, founder of Books Beyond Words, will introduce the purpose and methodology behind creating 80 word‑free stories. Designer Lucyna Talejko‑Kwiatkowska will describe her role as a visual collaborator.
Beyond Words co‑creates picture‑based stories for people of all ages who find images easier than words, offering a visual language to explore situations, feelings and emotions.
How do we learn about life events such as love, death, despair or illness? Beyond our own experience, we draw on cultural stories—books, films, songs—that we interpret personally.
Books Beyond Words uses narrative imagery to show situations, relationships and emotions, opening space for each reader’s interpretation and potential transformation. Its book clubs offer an inclusive way to enjoy and discuss the stories.