Opportunities & Events

Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing: Call for Contributors

Start Date: February 2026

Summary:

Content:

Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing

Call for Contributions

22nd and 23rd June 2026

University of South Wales, Cardiff, CF24 2JU, Wales, UK

Public Health Wales, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, the University of South Wales and partners are delighted to announce the next gathering of ‘Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing’, which will take place on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd June 2026 at the Atrium, University of South Wales, Cardiff, CF24 2FN. The focus of this event is “Unheard Voices”. This one-day event builds upon the successful Storytelling for Health conferences, which took place in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2024.

Call for Proposals

Storytelling for health and wellbeing is a now well-established field of practice with a growing evidence base. As McCall et al. note in their 2021 systematic review of the evidence base for arts in health, storytelling has “inherent value in revealing nuanced insights on a wide variety of public health topics and played an active role in participants making sense of real-life events and changing knowledge, attitudes, behaviour/practice” (2021, p.12).[1] The aims of the Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing Conference 2026 are: to acknowledge and celebrate storytelling for health and wellbeing, to share and understand good practice, and to learn from Welsh and International communities through dialogue and exchange.

Internationally, Good Health and Wellbeing is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and, in Wales, the Welsh policy landscape enshrines the right to wellbeing (‘Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2015’; ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025 to 2035’) and Wales’ aspires to be a Marmot Nation and a Nation of Sanctuary. The arts and humanities are central to achieving these aims. We need to understand both the role of arts, culture, and storytelling in creating wellbeing as well how stories can help us to better understand people’s experiences of health and wellbeing and what truly matters to our communities in respect of their health and wellbeing. It is this context that sets the background to our central questions – “Whose stories get told?” and “How can storytelling help us to build towards a healthier future for all?”.

We are inviting proposals for presentations and papers from community groups, storytellers and artists, practitioners in health, social care, and social justice, academics, and others with an interest in the topic of storytelling for health and wellbeing. We are particularly keen to hear about projects which privilege the story as told by the person or community themselves or which support people and communities to articulate their own story of health, illness, and wellbeing. We are seeking contributions from any and all areas of health and wellbeing and are keen to embrace storytelling in the widest possible sense and through a range of art forms, including but not limited to:

Written word
Visual art
Spoken word
Digital
Performance
Oral storytelling
Folklore
Traditional Arts
Music
Oral History
Movement
Community dialogue

Contributions may be in the form of short talks or papers, performative presentations, films, or other forms. We are seeking contributions that are innovative in their means of presentation and formats. Each contribution will be allocated a 20 minute slot with the exception of panel discussions, which will be allocated one hour.

How to Apply

Please complete the proposal form by 11.59pm Sunday 14th February 2026. We will select proposals based on:

Fit to the conference theme and aims,
The degree to which storyteller/community voice is privileged/ highlighted,
Creating a balanced programme,
Practicality, e.g. our ability to support/house/meet technical requirements.

We will notify you if your proposal has been selected by 9am Tuesday 3rd March.

Registration and Fees

All speakers and presenters will be expected to register for the conference at the full fee of: £100 two days / £50 one day (employer funded places) / £60 two days / £30 one day (individuals not funded by an institution). This fee includes access to all events, refreshments, and administrative costs. Our ethos is to keep the conference fee low for everyone.

It is not possible, unfortunately, to offer free places for all presenters. A limited number of free places will be available to enable those not funded by organisations or not in receipt of a full time salary to attend. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide any expenses for presenters or delegates.

We want this gathering to be accessible and inclusive. Please contact events@southwales.ac.uk with any queries or to let us know any ways that we could support you.

[1] McCall B, Shallcross L, Wilson M, Fuller C, Hayward A. Storytelling as a Research Tool Used to Explore Insights and as an Intervention in Public Health: A Systematic Narrative Review. Int J Public Health. 2021 Nov 2;66:1604262. doi: 10.3389/ijph.2021.1604262. PMID: 34795554; PMCID: PMC8592844
Storytelling for Health and Wellbeing 2026: Submission Form for Contributions