Buur & Boek is a pilot project by NOORDWOORD and Arts in Health Groningen, focused on the joy of reading and writing in the hearts of four local communities. From October 2025 to March 2026, residents from different neighbourhoods and villages across the province of Groningen come together with trained group leaders, to read, write, talk, and reflect on short stories, poems and novels.
The goal of the project is to use reading and writing to inspire connection and care in the communities, and encouraging new groups to form. The five groups meet bi-weekly in the Korrewegwijk, Beijum, Finsterwolde, Noordlaren en Feerwerd. The groups are guided by four workshop leaders who each bring their own unique background and approach to creative reading and writing. No previous literary experience or nor is preparation necessary to join the groups. Participants from a wide variety of backgrounds join in experiencing ‘shared reading’, creative writing, deep listening, and reflective conversations.
Arts in Health Netherlands leads a bi-weekly learning community to support the four group leaders and project coordinator. The learning community involves peer discussion, reflection, planning, and coaching as needed. The group also discusses scientific literature on the health benefits of reading and writing, to inform practice. Self-care is also addressed, and the ethics of community-based work.
The project creates space for community members to meet one another in new ways. Reading and writing become starting points for reflective conversations, deep attention, and sharing inspiration. Along the way, social connections are built or strengthened. “We meet with neighbours to talk about life through literature and poetry,” one of the workshop leaders explains. “We read and talk, and if people wish, also create. Everything is allowed, nothing is required.” Another workshop leader adds, “It is not about having the same opinion, but about daring to speak and to listen.”
The four workshop leaders, Charlotte Beerda, Gemma Jissink, Lieke van den Krommenacker and Willemijn van de Walle, each bring their own background in literature, performance and community work. Want to know more about who they are?
At the end of the pilot project, each group will have the opportunity to share what they have created or discovered at a ‘mini-festival’ in each of the four communities. Some may present poems or short stories, others may simply celebrate the conversations and connections that have formed.
For Arts in Health Groningen, Buur & Boek is part of a broader programme of using the arts to encourage reflection, dialogue, and social connection in support of well-being. By creating spaces where people can meet around shared curiosity and creativity, Buur & Boek helps build a sense of community and imagination in daily life.
Participation in Buur & Boek is free of charge. The project runs from October 2025 to March 2026 and is organised by NOORWOORD in collaboration with Arts in Health Groningen and local partners in each of the four communities.
Want to learn more about research literature and well-being?
The effects of reading on wellbeing have been investigated for decades by researchers from the humanities, social sciences and health sciences. Findings suggest that reading is not only a source of knowledge and entertainment, but also contributes to psychological and social health. Reading fiction is often described as a form of mental simulation that exercises social cognition, empathy, and Theory of Mind [1, 2]. These contribute to people's social and psychological wellbeing. For such effects on wellbeing, it is important that people engage with, and reflect on, what they read [3]. Inspired by such research, shared reading programmes have been used to reduce loneliness, start conversations and strengthen the sense of belonging, especially among people from different backgrounds or generations [e.g. 4; 5].
Expressive and reflective writing—such as diaries, short stories, or letters—can improve both mental and physical health as research in psychology and the health sciences highlights [6, 7, 8]. There is even evidence that points to writing reducing depressive [9] and PTS(D) symptoms [10] and that it allows people to better deal with grief [11]. For writing workshops to support wellbeing, it is important to create a trusting environment[12].
References:
- Dodell-Feder, D., & Tamir, D. I. (2018). Fiction reading has a small positive impact on social cognition: A meta-analysis. Journal of experimental psychology. General, 147(11), 1713–1727. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000395
- Oatley K. (2016). Fiction: Simulation of Social Worlds. Trends in cognitive sciences, 20(8), 618–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.06.002
- Carney, J., & Robertson, C. (2022). Five studies evaluating the impact on mental health and mood of recalling, reading, and discussing fiction. PLoS ONE, 17(4), e0266323. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0266323
- Billington, J., Carroll, J., Davis, P., Healey, C., & Kinderman, P. (2013). A literature-based intervention for older people living with dementia. Perspectives in Public Health, 136(3), 139–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913912470052
- Longden, E., Davis, P., Carroll, J., Billington, J., & Kinderman, P. (2015). Shared reading: Assessing the intrinsic value of literature. Medical Humanities, 41(2), 113–120. https://doi.org/10.1136/medhum-2015-010704
- Valtonen J. (2021). The Health Benefits of Autobiographical Writing: An Interdisciplinary Perspective. The Journal of medical humanities, 42(4), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-020-09631-9
- Pennebaker, J. W., & Seagal, J. D. (1999). Forming a story: the health benefits of narrative. Journal of clinical psychology, 55(10), 1243–1254. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(199910)55:10<1243::AID-JCLP6>3.0.CO;2-N
- Toepfer, S. M., & Walker, K. (2009). Letters of gratitude: Improving well-being through expressive writing. Journal of Writing Research, 1(3), 181-198. https://doi.org/10.17239/jowr-2009.01.03.1
- Reinhold, M., Bürkner, P.-C., & Holling, H. (2018). Effects of expressive writing on depressive symptoms: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 25, e12224. https://doi.org/10.1111/cpsp.12224
- Pavlacic, J. M., Buchanan, E. M., Maxwell, N. P., Hopke, T. G., & Schulenberg, S. E. (2019). A meta-analysis of expressive writing on posttraumatic stress, posttraumatic growth, and quality of life. Review of General Psychology, 23(2), 230–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/1089268019831645
- Den Elzen, K., Neimeyer, R. A., & Lengelle, R. (Eds.). (2024). Living with loss: From grief to wellbeing (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003460657
- Wiltshire, K. (2022). Using the short story as a tool for well-being in arts and health workshops for the NHS staff. Short Fiction in Theory & Practice, 12 (The Health of the Short Story: Part 2), 203–218. https://doi.org/10.1386/fict_00062_1