It's a new series of The Bibliotherapists, and for our first episode we are joined by Clover Stroud, a bestselling author who writes on the way life feels.

Clover writes about the big stuff - creativity, grief, joy, motherhood, sex, death - as well as life’s small but meaningful moments.

🎧 5 takeaways from our conversation with Clover

1. Grief as Catalyst for Creativity

Clover’s writing often emerges from personal loss (people, places, identity). She believes grief isn’t something to avoid, but something that can transform and expand us.

2. The Power of Saying Yes

Her work is also very much a celebration of life in all its mess and majesty. Even in pain, the writer finds ways to say yes to love, art, motherhood and being fully human.

“I want to say yes to life. That’s the message in everything I write.”

3. Writing as Spiritual Practice

For Clover, writing is not just craft—it’s communion.

4. Motherhood and Sisterhood in Full Colour

Clover speaks candidly about the beauty, exhaustion, wildness and transformation that comes with losing her mother, raising five children and grieving her sister.

“I write about the things I don’t understand in order to try and understand them.”

5. There’s No Map, Only The Work

Clover urges aspiring writers to stop waiting for permission. The only way forward, she says, is to show up for The Work and let the words take shape.

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The Bibliotherapists is a podcast celebrating the healing power of words, hosted on - and featuring writers and creatives from - the Substack platform.

Find Clover on Substack > https://substack.com/@cloverstroud

Toni (The Shelf Help Cluhouse) on Substack > https://shelfhelpclub.substack.com/

Tanya (withEase) on Substack > https://tanyalynch.substack.com/

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