Words to Grieve: A Recipe Collection (2022) is the second part of an ongoing project by Chris Alton and Emily Simpson, regarding grief and language. Having each been through a significant loss in our mid-20s, we found the English vocabulary for communicating grief and loss to be inadequate. We’ve been speaking with others about their experiences of loss with the hope of finding common ground.

As part of Words to Grieve we hosted a shared dinner. People were invited to bring a dish, which was cooked by or connected to the person they’d lost. After the dinner, we produced a publication containing recipes for the dishes people shared that evening, alongside reflections from our conversations.

This iteration of Words to Grieve was commissioned by A Modest Show, Manchester’s collateral programme to British Art Show 9. During BAS9, the publications were available for free from various art spaces in Manchester.

Printed by George Gibson.

Read online free HERE.