William Sieghart, National Poetry Day founder and the brains behind Poetry on Prescription, stars in a mini-series of special library events which we have brokered with publishers Faber and Faber.

Sieghart firmly believes in poetry's ability to see readers through the most difficult moments of life, by providing a sense of complicity and understanding. Now his Faber-published poetry anthology, Winning Words: Inspiring Poems for Everyday Life will be central to his library tour events, during which he will explain to audiences of local readers why poetry can be better than therapy; read from his anthology and then prescribe a poem for any problem that is presented to him, with attendees invited to book 'appointments'.

"In our increasingly alienated modern lives, an appropriate poem can be more helpful than many forms of therapy. We love our poetry but are often intimidated by it. Yet we consume more greetings cards than any other nation, enjoy our chants on the football terraces and have contributed significantly to the canon of rap music," says William Sieghart.

Get involved

The Poetry on Prescription library tour will be at:

Wednesday 15 May: Sevenoaks Library, Kent (Buckhurst Lane, Sevenoaks, TN13 1LQ). Starts 2.30pm. Tickets: £3 and must be booked in advance. Contact Sevenoaks Library on 08458 247200 or email Jenny.Carter2@kent.gov.uk.

Thursday 16 May: Staplehurst Library, Kent (The Parade, Staplehurst, Tonbridge, Kent, TN12 0LA), . Starts 10am. Tickets: free but booking essential, with a donation for refreshments. Contact Staplehurst Library on 01580 891929 or email staplehurstlibrary@kent.gov.uk.

Tuesday 18 June: St John's Wood Library, Westminster (20 Circus Road NW8 6PD), Starts 6pm. Tickets: free but please sign up. Email stjohnswoodlibrary@westminster.gov.uk or call 020 7641 1300.

If you can't get to a Poetry on Prescription event you can still enjoy Winning Words and find out what our 'Poetry Champions' reading groups thought about the anthology on our Reading Groups for Everyone site.

If you're interested in Poetry on Prescription may also be interested in the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme, a new scheme which helps people manage their own health and well-being through recommended self-help books.