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Speakers

Mental Wealth
Festival
2024

This year’s Mental Wealth Festival runs from 10 – 12 October. Hosted by City Lit in partnership with Bloomsbury Festival, Beyond Words, the National Gallery, Royal Ballet and Opera, British Library, and Age UK amongst others, it will offer free or low-fee events, including in person and online workshops, talks, discussions, exhibitions, and other activities.

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Mark Malcomson CBE

Mark Malcomson CBE took over as Principal and Chief Executive of City Lit in June 2011. Mark was previously Director of Executive Education at London Business School, 2007-11 and prior to that President of the New York Institute of Finance. He will be chairing and presenting a number of events throughout the week. 

Baroness Sheila Hollins

City Lit Fellow Baroness Hollins is the Patron of the Mental Wealth Festival. She is the founder, editor and lead author of the Books Beyond Words series and Chairs the Board of Beyond Words. She is Emeritus Professor of the Psychiatry of Disability at St George’s, University of London, and sits in the House of Lords as a crossbench peer.

Sir Grayson Perry

 

City Lit Fellow Sir Grayson Perry, is an award-winning artist who works in a variety of media, but is best known for his ceramic works. In 2003, Grayson became famous as the first ceramic artist to win the Turner Prize. Alongside his art, Grayson has written and presented documentaries including an hour-long documentary for Channel 4 entitled Why Men Wear Frocks.


An Evening with Sir Grayson Perry - Thursday 10 October >

Portrait of Grayson Perry, 2024 © Grayson Perry Courtesy the artist

Lindsay Nicholson

Lindsay Nicholson was a successful magazine editor for more than two decades and best known as the longest serving editor of Good Housekeeping. She won multiple awards, including Editor of the Year twice, and became the 
National Magazine Company’s first-ever Editorial Director, which included stints editing Cosmopolitan, Esquire and 
She. Awarded an MBE for services to journalism and equal opportunities, she now pursues a portfolio career that 
combines grief counselling, equestrian coaching and writing.

 

In Conversation with Lindsay Nicholson - Friday 11 October >

Dr Kathryn Mannix

Dr. Kathryn Mannix is a retired palliative care doctor campaigning for better public understanding of dying, using her experience drawn from 30 years working in hospitals, hospices and people's own homes. Her books With The End In Mind and Listen: How to Find the Words for Tender Conversations both became best-sellers. She has written and spoken extensively about end of life care and supporting dying people, across the UK and around the world


Living & Dying - the search for meaning on Friday 11 October >

 

Photo credit: Darren Irwin

Paul Farmer

City Lit Fellow Paul Farmer became CEO of charity Age UK in October 2022. He was previously Chief Executive of Mind, the leading mental health charity working in England and Wales. Paul is Chair of the NHS England Independent Oversight & Advisory Group which brings together health and care leaders and experts to oversee the current mental health long term plan for the NHS in England. Paul Farmer has been a supporter of City Lit and a regular speaker at the Mental Wealth Festival for many years. 

Dr Tara Swart

Dr Tara Swart is a neuroscientist, medical doctor, executive advisor, Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan, and author of best-seller ‘The Source’ which has translations in 38 global territories. She is passionate about disseminating simple, pragmatic neuroscience-based messages that change the way people live and work. She personally advises a small number of executives via personal recommendation only, and speaks at major conferences globally.

Previous residencies include Brown’s Fashion; Annabel’s, a private members’ club in Mayfair; and she was the world’s first Neuroscientist-in-Residence at the Corinthia Hotel, London. Tara was on the EFG Asset Management Future Leaders Panel 2018-19.

 

In Conversation with Dr Tara Swart - Friday 11 October >

Dr Carole Easton

Dr Carole Easton is Ageing Better’s Chief Executive. Carole has had an extensive career in the voluntary sector. Her previous roles include Interim Chief Executive at Refuge, Interim Joint Chief Executive at the British Lung Foundation and Chief Executive at the Young Women’s Trust.

Carole is also an experienced non-executive director, Trustee and Chair. She currently sits on the Board of Advance, a charity that works with women who have experienced domestic abuse to be safe and take control of their lives, and women who have committed crime or are at risk of offending. She is also vice-Chair at the Fulham College Academy Trust.

Jess Baker

Jess Baker is a chartered business psychologist (CPsychol AFBSsS) and co-author of the award-winning book, The Super-Helper Syndrome: A Survival Guide for Compassionate People, which offers a new perspective on the psychology of helping. Jess is also an award-winning leadership coach. She began her career in public healthcare before specialising in corporate wellbeing. Her corporate programmes include a variety of themes, such as overcoming imposter syndrome and compassionate leadership. Over a thousand people have been through her online programme Tame Your Inner Critic. She speaks at conferences and festivals and is a regular commissioned writer on the subject of wellbeing. She comments on leadership, psychology at work and mental health for magazines, newspapers and national radio. As an expert on the wellbeing of helpers she offers her services on a voluntary basis to charities including NSPCC, CarersUK, Citizens Advice.

Hope Virgo

Hope Virgo is an Author and a multi award winning international leading advocate for people with eating disorders. Through sharing her harrowing but inspiring story, Hope helps young people and employers (including schools, hospitals, the Government and businesses) to deal with the rising tide of mental health issues which affect one in four people and costs employers between £33 and £42 billion annually. She has been described by Icon and Sports Presenter, Jeff Stelling, as 'the indefatigable Hope Virgo'.

Hope is the founder of the #DumpTheScales campaign which put eating disorders on the Government's agenda. The campaign has gone from strength to strength making change happen on a national scale. She has been invited to Number 10 Downing Street to meet with The Prime Minister's Political Advisors multiple times and hosted in 2023 the first ever eating disorder march in the UK. Hope continues to campaign for better access to treatment and adequate funding for eating disorders because no one with an eating disorder is untreatable.

Matt Ottley

Matt Ottley is an Australian internationally acclaimed and multiple award-winning neurodiverse artist, author and composer, with more than forty picture books to his name. He is recognised for creating works that help others see things from a different perspective. His illustrations and music are multi-layered, resonant with emotion, and have been described as ‘transcendent’.

His latest work, The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness, tackles the issue of psychosis through, images, words and music.  Matt has the condition of synaesthesia, so music and art have always been inseparable. He describes himself as being ‘happiest when I’m either immersed in the world of sound, or of colour and light, and often they’re the same’.  

As a composer, and an Endorsed Yamaha musician, Matt has written scores for many of his picture books as part of an initiative called ‘The Sound of Picture Books™’.  These have been performed by orchestras and musicians across Australia and internationally.

Matt is the Australian nominee (illustrator) for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2024, the highest international distinction given to the creators of children’s books, awarded every second year to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children's literature.

Ian Tucknott

Ian Tucknott is an educator, cultural theorist, creative practitioner, and trainee art psychotherapist, with 15 years experience of teaching & managing in the areas of contemporary art, critical & cultural theory, and art history.

Mike Nicholson

Mike Nicholson is the illustrator for Books Beyond Words stories Rose Gets in Shape and A Refugee’s Story.

“Westmorland-born, and Surrey-based, I am sole proprietor of the Ensixteen Editions imprint since 2000. Artist, writer, illustrator, storyboard artist, academic, public speaker and private thinker."

Dr Olivia Hum

Dr Olivia Hum has been an NHS GP for the last 18 years, specialising in women's health and sexual health. She is a British Menopause Society menopause specialist and sits on the council of the BMS. She is the co-founder of Myla Health, an organisation offering clinical care to women via their network of clinics in Sussex, Kent, Sheffield, Exeter and online. Myla Health also provides education and training to doctors, patients and workplaces on a variety of health topics including women's health, sleep and mental health. 

Dr Zoe Schaedel

Dr Zoe Schaedel has 17 years’ experience as an NHS GP with expertise in menopause care, sleep disorders and sexual health. She is an accredited British Menopause Society (BMS) Menopause Specialist and is a member of the British Menopause Society Medical Advisory Council. She is the clinical lead of the Brighton and Hove Community Menopause Clinic and Co-director of Myla Health, a private women’s health clinic. She is an experienced corporate speaker and educator, and sits on the education committees of the PCWHF and The British Sleep Society. She is the co-founder of The Good Sleep Clinic.

Shaun Flores

Shaun Flores is a dynamic mental health advocate, public speaker, and influencer committed to challenging societal norms and fostering open conversations about mental health, masculinity, and social justice. As a four-time TEDx speaker, Shaun has captivated audiences with his powerful talks, particularly focusing on the misconceptions surrounding OCD and the pressures of masculinity. Raised in a single-parent household, Shaun has overcome significant personal challenges, including a battle with porn addiction and disordered eating during his time in the modeling industry. These experiences fuel his passion for advocacy, driving him to inspire positive change and promote mental well-being.

Sonal Kapoor

Brain Abilitiez biggest fan and supporter, is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Sonal Kapoor. Sharing her son, Shammi's journey, from very poor ability to incredible ability and making his vision a reality has been a re-birth for Sonal. Her passion lies in delivering life-changing brain training programmes that enhance mental performance for adults and children. Sonal has been leading Brain Abilitiez for 8 years, helping people who are struggling with ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism, Brain Injury, as well as adults and children who just want to improve ability to have the edge at work, school or in sports. 

 

Garth MacAnally

Garth MacAnally has spent the last 17 years working with Employee Assistance Programmes with a wide experience of the sector, EAP Call Handler, Account Management, Business Development, Staff & Management Training and Senior EAP Consultant.

His inroad into mental health was as a teacher, as an Industrial Therapist working for the NHS, within adult mental health services. Garth produces and delivers training aimed at driving positive change, he is passionate about reducing stigma surrounding all things mental health and helping organisations to support and train their staff in supporting themselves and others with their Mental Wellbeing.

Rachel Morris

Rachel Morris is a working mother and business coach who is a thought leader in the area of parental transition, working today for some of the world’s leading brands.  She shares incredible insight on how to navigate the collision of parenthood and work to help her readers be successful at both.  

Patrick Campbell

Patrick Campbell is a stammerer, doctor and academic living in London, England. Patrick is an advocate for stammering and the rights of people who stammer. He co-edited the critically acclaimed book Stammering Pride and Prejudice and has written numerous blogs and articles on stammering. He has an interest in how public and self-stigma intertwine to produce disability for people who stammer and how this debilitating process can be altered through seeing positive value in stammering. 

Rowan St Clair and Patrick Wright

Rowan St Clair is an integrative therapist and ecotherapist with a counselling and ecotherapy practice in central London. Patrick Wright is a poet and lecturer in English Literature and Creative Writing at the Open University. Together they run Reenchantment therapeutic nature writing workshops in London and in Manchester, facilitating connections between inner and outer nature through creative writing in response to local landscape and environment.

Brian Marshall

With a background in the health and pharmaceuticals industry, Brian Marhsall has a degree in Biomedical Sciences and Health and a wealth of experience in project management. He is a qualified children’s sleep practitioner and, in this role, he strategically leads the development and delivery of our evidence-based sleep services. These services include a range of support such as sleep clinics for families of children with complex sleep issues, provision of workshops as well as training for professionals.

Brian collaborates and works closely with the local clinical commissioning groups and funders to report the impact of services, helps to deliver training and workshops and is responsible for the sleep practitioner and our National Sleep Helpline team. Brian has a keen interest in green prescribing and has achieved Level 3 Forest School Leader training with Doncaster University and Outdoor First Aid training.

Vivien Ellis

Vivien Ellis is a Grammy-nominated singer, community musician and researcher leading high-quality, relaxed, inclusive singing events to improve wellbeing.  Vivien works with Mental Fight Club a charity based in Southwark, leading the Dragon Café  Singers, a weekly singing group which supports health and wellbeing through singing and song writing.

Rebecca Kenny 

Rebecca Kenny is a poet and founder of Written Off Publishing. Written Off is an independent press dedicated to amplifying marginalised voices and telling authentic stories. It is Community-focused and collaboratively-led.

Written Off seek to show that art is a great leveller when it comes to sharing life experiences. We know that poetry can be accessible but also that it can be intimidating - we want to break those barriers down and show that poetry is actually a great way to process emotions, share feelings and bring together a community.

Ash Bainbridge 

Ash Bainbridge (they/he) is a queer writer and midwife who centres bodily autonomy as a social justice issue. Their pamphlet about living with endometriosis and premenstrual dysphoric disorder as a trans person - “Trans-crip-T” - is out now with Written Off Publishing. This year’s featured artist credits include the Vagina Museum, Edinburgh Fringe, and New York Poetry Festival. His voice is still breaking, so you’ll never hear this poetry at this pitch again.

Emily Mew 

Emily Mew (she/her) is a poet and therapist. She often returns to themes of nature, mothering/caregiving and womanhood in her work and can be found as @emewpoetry on Instagram. She has performed her poetry at the Southbank Centre, New York Poetry Festival and recently hosted an evening of poetry on parenthood in Bristol. Her debut pamphlet will be published by Written Off Publishing in 2025.

John Clifford 

John Clifford is a writer and performer who has shared his poetry across the UK, Ireland and the US in venues ranging from castles and cathedrals to cafes, clubs, pubs and his favourite friends' kitchens. His poems have been displayed in the streets and shops of Manchester's Northern Quarter, appeared on BBC radio, and were featured at Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2022, New York Poetry Festival in 2023, and Allen Valley Folk Festival in 2024. The best words he could pin down were published in his first collection Tell Us What We Are with Written Off Publishing in 2023.

Pedro Kalache

Pedro Kalache is a ceramic artist and community based educator who is passionate about the value to wellbeing that can be found within the creative process and working with the arts.  

Tanvi Kant


Tanvi Kant is a multi-disciplinary artist who has relocated from London to Hastings, a seaside town in South East England. Repurposing reclaimed textiles, Tanvi has been practising elemental hand techniques for over 15 years creating jewellery and more recently collage. Tanvi has extensive experience of working with the public and community groups aiming to help people uncover their own visual and tactile stories through materials and to  support intergenerational learning experiences. She leads workshops in textile jewellery making, collage and participatory textile  installations.

Upcycled textile jewellery / Saturday 14 October / 14:00-16:30 / City Lit

Clare Barton-Harvey


Clare Barton-Harvey is a practising artist and tutor, specialising in art and mindfulness, drawing, painting and slow looking. She is a full time artist and tutor/trainer living in London. In her teaching, she specialises in life drawing, drawing and mindfulness, working with colour, and painting from the imagination. Clare has been a practicing artist & mindfulness practitioner for over 25 years, and has taught drawing and painting for over 18 years, in a variety of locations currently including the National Gallery and British Museum. She is also co-founder of LIMINA collective who specialise in mindful engagement with art in galleries and museums.