Messy Grief: Grief Awareness Week 2025
Written 20 Nov 2025
Who said that grief is supposed to be neat? Who told us that grief is just politely crying, or that death should always make us sad, and who said you can’t grieve the living? For Grief Awareness Week 2nd - 8th December we present Messy Grief, a week of smashing things up and singing things off your chest.
Created by artists Lowri Evans, Brendan Curtis, Erin Rowlands and Jenny Gaskell join us to explore the ways in which grief can be messy, ambivalent and uncomfortable. Join us for a Smashing Ceremony, Grief Choir and a Grief Gathering, all in Crosby Library.
This One Goes Out to the One I Love
A loud, cathartic evening of collective singing!
The first event in our Messy Grief week, celebrating Grief Awareness Week, come along to sing and scream your grief out.
Don’t worry about being put on the spot or being any good at singing. When it’s your turn, we will read out the request and dedication and everyone will be invited to sing along together.
*Please note* you will need to let us know your song ahead of time so we can prepare it for you! We will have some other well-known songs to choose from on the day but if we don’t get your selection ahead of time we can’t promise we’ll be able to use your selection!
Book your place here and submit your song to the Google form.
Smashing Ceremony with Lowri Evans
Have you got a household item you’d like to smash?
Bring an item that holds significance for you in a cathartic ritual with artist Lowri Evans, smashing the item against the wall to honour all that we do to hold ourselves, and others, together when we have loved and lost.
When you book your place, please let us know what item you'll be bringing to smash so we can discuss with you. You can tell us this in the booking form when you secure your spot! Find out more and book here.
Grief Gathering with Brendan Curtis and Debbie Chan
A welcoming space for everyone—whether you've experienced grief or not - to connect, share feelings and experiences around love & loss. It's for people who have experienced grief, and for people who haven’t.
This Grief Gathering is hosted by artist Brendan Curtis with support of librarian Emma Latham who has experiences of grief.
We keep gathering small so spaces are limited so booking is essential. Click here to book and find out more.
Smashing Ceremony and Messy Grief on BBC Radio Merseyside with Kevin Duala!
Debbie and Lowri were on BBC Radio Merseyside to talk about the Grief Awareness week and Lowri's smashing ceremony!
