In Impact, 21 women writers consider the effects of concussion on their personal and professional lives. The anthology bears witness to the painstaking work that goes into redefining identity and regaining creative practice after a traumatic event. By sharing their complex and sometimes incomplete healing journeys, these women convey the magnitude of a disability which is often doubted, overlooked, and trivialized, in part because of its invisibility. Impact offers compassion and empathy to all readers and families healing from concussion and other types of trauma.
Contributors: Adèle Barclay, Jane Cawthorne, Tracy Wai de Boer, Stephanie Everett, Mary-Jo Fetterly, Rayanne Haines, Jane Harris, Kyla Jamieson, Alexis Kienlen, Claire Lacey, E. D. Morin, Julia Nunes, Shelley Pacholok, Chiedza Pasipanodya, Judy Rebick, Julie Sedivy, Dianah Smith, Carrie Snyder, Kinnie Starr, Amy Stuart, Anna Swanson
Available on many channels, including Libro.fm.
xi Brainstorm | how we got here | E. D. Morin & Jane Cawthorne
I | WHERE TO BEGIN
3 In Exile I Draw the Tower Card | Kyla Jamieson
5 Lost | Jane Cawthorne
21 It’s Fine, I’m Fine | selections from a one-woman show | Stephanie Everett
43 In the River | Carrie Snyder
55 Another Ordinary Day | Dianah Smith
II | AM I GETTING BETTER
61 September | Kyla Jamieson
63 Un/titled | Shelley Pacholok
79 Whet Language | Claire Lacey
95 I was in the back of a taxi that went into a car that rolled a stop sign | Kinnie Starr
111 Losing my mind | Judy Rebick
III | NO LONGER THE PERSON I WAS
123 Two Years Post-Injury | Kyla Jamieson
125 How to: Consume Care, Caringly | Chiedza Pasipanodya
131 She Hulk | E. D. Morin
143 No Answers | Alexis Kienlen
155 Concussion, Yoga and Resiliency | Mary-Jo Fetterly
V I DREAM OF SWIMMING
169 Kind of Animal | Kyla Jamieson
173 In which skinny dipping temporarily fixes a life | Anna Swanson
187 Finding the Switch | Amy Stuart
195 A Wave of Relief | Tracy Wai de Boer
205 Appearing and Disappearing | a poet gets up from her table | Jane Harris
V | CARRIED THROUGH ALL THAT
223 At Least | Kyla Jamieson
225 The Next Hit | Julia Nunes
241 This is Normal | Rayanne Haines
249 And the Sky Was All Violet | Adèle Barclay
263 Disconnections | Julie Sedivy
273 Orca mother drops calf after an unexpected 17 days of mourning | Kyla Jamieson
275 Acknowledgements
277 Notes
281 Contributors