Resources

EmpathyLab ambassador Jion Sheibani has compiled recipes for a great story. Watch them here and head to the links below to download the PDFs.

There's also a link to EmpathyLab’s “Empathy Shorts”, a collection of stories for children that will help you understand what an empathy story is and help build your characters and themes.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings, thoughts and perspectives of another person. It involves feeling what others feel and using that understanding to act with compassion.

Empathy helps you really feel and understand someone else’s point of view, so it’s a useful tool you can use across many areas of life such as:

• Friendship – empathy is important for building strong relationships. Trying to understand what others are going through makes us great friends.

• Self-care – showing empathy and being kind to ourselves is important too, as it can have a positive impact on our mental health.

• Work – empathy is important for work. Many employers value people who can work well with others.

• Community – lots of positive change in the world has come about through acts of empathy.

We want you to write a short story or poem that foregrounds empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Your narrative should explore what it means to truly see, hear or understand another person. Empathy may unfold between strangers, family members, rivals, communities, cultures or circumstances. We encourage you to consider:

• What shifts when a character begins to understand another’s perspective?

• How does empathy transform conflict, relationships or identity?

• What are the consequences of empathy's presence, or its absence?

Download the poster for our Creative Writing Workshop with A.M. Dassu below! The free-to-attend event takes place online on Monday 6th July 2026.

Discover inspiring stories with EmpathyLab's Empathy Shorts.

View the Empathy Day Festival: Introduction to Empathy slideshow.

So now you have your inspiration, what are you waiting for? We're bursting with anticipation and can’t wait to read your entries, so get creating!