(Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic draws together the stories of fifty-two women across the U.S. during the Covid-19 pandemic. The collection encompasses the perspectives of women who are: front-line responders and recovering patients; going out to work, staying home to work, and losing their jobs; living with multiple generations and living in isolation; women grieving loved ones and celebrating new love; women preparing to give birth and supporting the dying. Although differing based on location, age, race, and health, they share the unique capacity of women to bring their strength, ingenuity and love—for others and for self—to an uncertain time. The anthology is inspired by both the risks of the pandemic inherent to women and their tremendous role in the country’s response.
Praise for (Her)oics: Women’s Lived Experiences During the Coronavirus Pandemic
“I’m a proponent of sharing our truth. These womens’ stories are raw and real. They make me want to cry, or laugh, or call them up and say this sh** happened to me too! We’ve got this. These women really are the heroines of the pandemic: nurses, doctors, teachers, badass moms, women having a mental health crisis, healers, grandmas… I love this.”
~ Jennifer Pastiloff, best-selling author of On Being Human
"The homefront has always been inhabited by women, including anyone who identifies with and enters the space of “woman” – caretakers and home keepers and compassionate community builders. This collection reminds us how the heart warriors never give up or in, which is the only reason we have a chance. Where are the purple heart medals for these legions of women. Secular Blessings on every one of their stories, every single body.”
~ Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Verge – Stories
“This is a remarkable, kaleidoscopic record of a catastrophe that simultaneously struck us all. While physically isolating, we need emotional closeness and these essays are consolation for any reader who ever wondered, I can’t be the only one feeling this, can I?“
~ Leigh Stein, author of Self Care
“These are remarkable times and call on all of us to become even more remarkable people. I bow to these women and hope all can read their stories of courage, failure, despair and love. In addition, these stories give proof to what some of us have known all along: that the challenges, deep service and heart opening of motherhood can be an enlightenment intensive. Motherhood in a pandemic is a master course.”
~ Hallie Iglehart Austen, author of The Heart of the Goddess: Art, Myth and Meditations of the World’s Sacred Feminine and Womanspirit: A Guide to Women’s Wisdom
"(Her)oics is just the antidote our world needs right now. Here are the accounts of women—brave, fierce, unflinching—meeting head on the unprecedented challenges we are currently facing. Just holding this anthology in my hands gave me a sense of overwhelming hope and courage. Upon opening it, I found a polyphony of voices, each distinct and resonant, working seamlessly together to lighten up these uncertain times.”
~ Alex Espinoza
