The Poetry Pharmacy on Oxford Street in London

Last updated on 19 March 2025

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase with one of these links, I recieve a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read the full Affiliate Policy.

The Poetry Pharmacy is an absolute joy to visit

The Poetry Pharmacy in London was a bit of a surprise finding for me earlier in 2024. I think it was on a Reel on Instagram or a post or [insert another place online where you might see such things], and I immediately saved it and sent it to friends.

Little did I know when I first saw it that I would be booking a flight to London to then gallivant around Europe with a friend for 6 weeks. After the Contiki, I planned to stay in London for several days to see friends, get in some London things (like seeing shows!), and generally soak up the vibes of a city that I love so much.

And on my to-do list? Visiting the Poetry Pharmacy.

On a drizzly day in late September, I caught the tube to Oxford St for a morning of what was essentially wandering through shops and doing a little reminiscing of all the stores I’d missed in the last 10 years since I lived in England, and one of the must-dos for my morning was to check out the poetry pharmacy.

It’s an unassuming place, and you might miss it completely if you don’t notice the wee sign on the footpath. It’s not actually its own store but rather sits inside Lush Oxford Street on the first floor.

If you can make it past all the delicious-smelling body scrubs and soaps without stopping to add everything to your basket, then you wander up the stairs to the first floor and you’re greeted by bookshelves, cabinets and tables stocked with poetry … in various forms.

As well as the books lining the shelves and stacked on tables – both poetry and other sort of whimsical titles – you’ll find the ‘pharmacy’ side.

Rows of little medicine bottles with very medicinal-looking labels sit on the shelves and inside the cabinets, full of what look like little pills.

But if you get a little closer to the cabinets, and you take a moment to have a read, then you’ll see that the little pills inside are rolls and scrolls of poetry.

Medicine for ailments like a broken heart.

For hope.

For Carpe Diem.

A Slow Down bottle

A Pride bottle

One for Empty Nest Syndrome.

Poemcetamol.

There was even a cabinet set up while I was there full of posions. An ‘alternative therapy for your emotional ailments’ the sign read. The bottle, with dark labels, read ‘Vice’ on it, and they were surrounded by more macabre gifts and books.

“Here, instead of sleeping pills and multivitamins, customers will be offered prescriptions of Derek Walcott and Elizabeth Bishop.” – Alison Flood, The Gaudian as found on the Poetry Pharmacy website

The original, satellite store was in Soho and opened in late 2023, but it was such a big success that they managed to get a more permanent spot in the Lush Oxford Street not too long after.

Inside the shop, there is also the Dispensary Coffee Shop, where you can order coffee supplied by roasters in Shropshire, as well as a bunch of tasty goodies. Is there anything better than having a coffee or tea break surrounded by books and literary gifts?

I think not.

I ended up getting a a few things for my sister who, unlike me I must admit, is a big poetry fan. They made for the perfect gifts and she was stoked with them when I handed them over (complete in pharmacy-esque paper bags with a place to write the ‘patient’s name’ on the outside).

And I think that’s one of the magical things about the Poetry Pharmacy (and other stores that are similar) – you don’t have to be a huge poetry fan to enjoy spending time there. I spent about 30mins browsing the poetry books and other almost whimsical titles that line the shelves and are stacked on tables, checking all the brilliant bookish gifts and stationery, and of course, picking up every poetry pill bottle I could find and reading what was inside it.

My sister, as I mentioned, is a big poetry fan, but she’s also passionate about trees and the environment (as we all should be), so this was the perfect book to get her. Her favourite poet, Wendell Berry, has poems in this collection, so I knew it was going to be a safe bet.

According to the website, there are several collaborations either already happening or in the works, so it’s worth checking back in at the Poetry Pharmacy every so often if you have the ability to do so. And if you’re just passing through, then be sure to pop in and take a look. It was well worth battling the London drizzle to visit.

Have you been to the Poetry Pharmacy in London? What did you think?