In the beginning Richard Bell’s first poetical words found their way into the 2007 Annual Poetry Journal created by the Schizophrenia Fellowship of New South Wales Inc.
After three years of only having three poems published, he discovered an organisation that dealt with social issues called, Vibewire.org. So finally, in 2010 he had five poems published online about mental health.
From there Richard’s poetical journey went from being published in an online UK based poetry journal named, Poetry Space and an art, poetry and mental health magazine called Conexoz, which is created for and by people with lived experience of mental illness and supported by UnitingCare Wesley, Port Adelaide, South Australia.
Richard was commissioned to write poetry for the public artwork project, Poetry: The Indelible Stencil a region-wide project in NSW. Instigated and coordinated by Lizz Murphy, in partnership with Southern Tablelands Arts (STARTS) and eight local governments across the Southern Tablelands and Highlands, the project was funded by NSW Regional Arts Fund. In 2011 he began to perform his poetry as part of Poetry in Place, a library tour promoting Poetry: The Indelible Stencil.
The year of 2012 saw the name of Richard Bell in the online journal Verity La and in Wollondilly Ink, an anthology of the Wollondilly Branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. Along with another poetry reading for ‘Library Lovers’ Day’ at Parramatta City Library.
In 2013 he was awarded a Professional Development Grant by Accessible Arts on behalf of the NSW Government through Arts NSW and Ageing, Disability and Home Care for ‘The Gospel of Schizophrenia Mentorship Project’ to develop a poetry manuscript into his first collection of poetry.
Also in 2013 Richard created Poetical Photographs. Using original photos, he put his own poetry on top of images and submitted them to the ‘Hear Me See Me’ art exhibitions organised by the Benevolent Society. A series of four Poetical Photographs were featured in Campbelltown Arts Centre, Fairfield City Museum and Art Gallery and two in the NSW Parliament House on Macquarie Street, Sydney.
Richard was also accepted into The Dax Poetry Collection at The Dax Centre in Melbourne. The Dax Centre works with sensitivity, compassion and integrity in the collection of poetry that addresses mental health issues and trauma.
Richard feels it’s only the beginning of his career of the wordy persuasion.
