This event will take place virtually via Zoom.
Join us virtually on Tuesday, November 21 at 6pm PT when we celebrate the release of The Long COVID Reader !
With readings by poetry editor Andrew David King, founding editor Mary Ladd and contributors Pato Hebert and Nikki Stewart
This is a virtual event
Register in advance for this webinar at the link below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jITz881PR7yCBK0fkvnSzg
About The Long COVID Reader
Living with Long COVID is tough. The Long COVID Reader (November 15, 2023, Long Hauler Publishing TM) features essays, poetry, stories, and commentaries that explore the challenges of living with Long COVID. The anthology is authored by forty-five U.S.-based long haulers, including established writers and poets Pato Hebert, Emily Pinkerton, Morgan Stephens, and Nina Storey. This historical book is the first of its kind and reflects broad demographics, diverse skill sets, underrepresented voices, and those with little writing experience. It will be distributed by Ingram Spark and available in paperback and e-book formats at bookstores, libraries, and online.
Long COVID stems from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is a potentially damaging illness that can have long-term impacts on people's lives. The Long COVID Reader uses storytelling to gain recognition and support while giving readers a humanized view of chronic illness. In addition, the book raises awareness about this little-understood illness which affects millions. Mary Ladd leads the project. Her writing is featured in Health, Playboy, WILDFIRE, and many writing and cancer anthologies. She first experienced Long COVID symptoms in March 2022.
From The Long COVID Reader Contributors
"I'm excited about being in the first-ever Long COVID Reader because the pandemic was a first for the world, and our stories matter. This book means a lot to me because people have forgotten about those of us with LC who suffer in silence. Sharing my story is special to me, as this will add to another phase of my healing and restoration."—Dr. Sabrina McQueen Johnson, wife, mother, and retired school principal
"Surviving COVID was a gift of new life. As a ‘long hauler,’ I am reminded of that every day. The Long COVID Reader will be a gift that keeps on giving to others."—Steven Lewis, author, poet, and Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute faculty member
"I want to share my story so no other woman is made to believe her symptoms are all in her head. May our narratives provide solidarity for patients, information for caregivers and providers, and increased awareness and urgency for action from the masses."—Haley Nelson, age 19. She was athletic, academic, and animated before Long-COVID, ME/CFS, POTS, and small fiber neuropathy uprooted her life.
About the Readers
Pato Hebert is an artist, teacher and organizer. He is also a COVID-19 long hauler, living with the ongoing impacts of the coronavirus since March 2020 and publicly addressing the pandemic through creativity and community building. Hebert serves as Chair and teaches in the Department of Art & Public Policy at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.
Andrew David King is a doctoral student in English at UC Berkeley, where they serve as the Director of the Disabled Students Advocacy Project for the Graduate Assembly. A New Literary Project Simpson Fellow and University of California Humanities Research Institute grantee, they identify as disabled and chronically ill.
Mary Ladd is the founding editor of The Long COVID Reader and has written about meat clothing, withered sexuality, and pizza champions for the San Francisco Chronicle, Playboy, Health, and the best-selling 642 Things to Write About and Lit Starts books. Mary collaborated with Anthony Bourdain and later created The Wig Diaries: An Irreverent Cancer Book with illustrator Don Asmussen. She is We Wai Kai First Nation.
Nikki Stewart is a 50-year-old breast and cervical cancer educator working primarily in the African American community to combat health disparities. She lives on Long Island, New York with her significant other. She contracted COVID-19 in December 2020.
(This book cannot be returned nor exchanged.)
COVID-19 is possibly the world's biggest mass-disabling event. This ambitious book gives a humanized view of chronic illness while offering a poignant reminder of the millions of people with long COVID. The collection is rich with living history from the stories, essays, and poems of 45 long haulers.