The abstract submission system will open on 15 December 2026. The submission deadline is 15 February 2027, 23:59 (UTC+3).
The call for papers is in preparation. The dates on this page are confirmed. The conference theme, topics, presentation formats, abstract guidelines, review and publication details below are provisional and will be finalised when the call opens on 15 December 2026.
Invitation
The Scientific Committee of the 4th European Biblio/Poetry Therapy Conference invites researchers, practitioners, librarians, educators and students to submit abstracts for paper presentations, workshops, posters, panels and research-in-progress presentations. Contributions may be theoretical, empirical or practice-based. The conference theme is in preparation (working title: Biblio/Poetry Therapy Across Cultures: Libraries, Research and Practice); all topics within the field will be considered.
Topics (provisional)
- Bibliotherapy services in public, school, academic, hospital and prison libraries
- The role and training of librarians in bibliotherapy
- Clinical bibliotherapy and poetry therapy in mental health and medical settings
- Developmental bibliotherapy in education: children, adolescents and university students
- Biblio/poetry therapy with older adults and in dementia care
- Reading and writing in grief, trauma and crisis intervention
- Community-based and intercultural practice; work with migrants and refugees
- National and world literatures, oral traditions and translation in therapeutic use
- Research methods, outcome measurement and the evidence base
- Theoretical models and frameworks of biblio/poetry therapy
- Education, training, supervision and professional standards
- Ethics and the practitioner's self-care
- Biblio/poetry therapy and other creative arts therapies
- Nature, place and ecotherapeutic writing
- Online and hybrid settings; artificial intelligence and digital tools
- History of bibliotherapy and reading cultures
Presentation formats (provisional)
| Format | Duration | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Paper presentation | 20 min + 10 min discussion | Research results, theoretical contributions, case studies or descriptions of practice, scheduled in thematic sessions of three papers. |
| Workshop | 90 min | Experiential sessions in which participants take part in a method or approach. Maximum 25 participants. The proposal must describe structure, materials and safety considerations. |
| Poster | Poster session, 17 September | A0 portrait format. Authors are present at their posters during the poster session. |
| Panel | 90 min | Three or four linked presentations on a common theme, proposed by a convenor, followed by discussion. |
| Research in progress | 10 min + 5 min discussion | Short presentations of ongoing work by students, doctoral researchers and early-career practitioners. |
Abstract guidelines (provisional)
- Abstracts must be written in English.
- Title: maximum 20 words.
- Abstract text: maximum 300 words. Research abstracts should state background, aims, method, results and conclusions. Practice and workshop abstracts should state context, approach, content and learning outcomes.
- Keywords: 3 to 5.
- Preferred presentation format. The Scientific Committee may propose a different format.
- Full name, affiliation, country and e-mail address of all authors; a biographical note of maximum 100 words for each presenting author.
- Work involving clients, patients or research participants must comply with the applicable ethical and confidentiality requirements. Ethics approval, where applicable, should be stated.
- An author may be presenting author on a maximum of two submissions.
- The abstract template (DOCX) will be available from 15 December 2026.
Review process (provisional)
Abstracts are reviewed by members of the International Scientific Committee in a double-blind procedure. Review criteria are relevance to the field and to the conference theme, clarity of aims and method, originality, scientific or practical rigour, and interest for an international audience. Authors will be notified of the decision by 21 May 2027.
To be included in the programme, at least one author of each accepted abstract must register for the conference by 14 July 2027.
Publication (provisional)
Accepted abstracts will be published in the Book of Abstracts (with ISBN, open access, published by the organising institutions). Authors of selected contributions will be invited to submit full papers for a peer-reviewed post-conference publication; further information will be provided with the notification of acceptance.
Submission
- Prepare the abstract according to the guidelines above using the template.
- Create an account in the online submission system (link to be published on 15 December 2026).
- Enter title, abstract, keywords, format, author details and biographical notes.
- Submit by 15 February 2027, 23:59 (Istanbul time, UTC+3).