Uprooted: An Anthology on Gender and Illness

by Megan Winkelman (Editor), Hayley Beckett (Editor), Megan Collins (Editor)

This anthology features essays, poems, and works of fiction that explore the intersections between illness, gender, sexuality, and identity. These moving narratives share personal, political, and even contradictory stories about what it is like to face disease. Proceeds from the ebook will go to printing and mailing the book to healthcare, art therapy, and medical education centers in the U.S. With this initiative, we hope to start conversations about gender and sexuality with patients and providers. To learn more about Uprooted visit us at www.uprootedanthology.com.

Genres: Disability, Essays, Nonfiction, Disability Studies, Anthologies, Poetry, Health

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 28, 2015

About the author

Uprooted was founded in 2014 by four long-time friends and artistic collaborators, and is the product of their experiences supporting each other through debilitating illness.

Our mission is to promote narratives of illness that surprise and transform understandings of disease in society. By sharing personal, political, and even contradictory stories about illness and identity, our community can challenge codes of sexuality, faith, race, and culture. Join the conversation on our blog, Facebook, or Twitter!

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've raised a family in Silicon Valley, where every child is above average and every woman is CEO/superwoman, so this quote is my favorite:
"I've also realized that even the most talented and successful people among us are not invincible. Yet many of us, myself included, try to present a perfect front to the rest of the world, because perfection feels safe. Perfection promises freedom from criticism and judgment. But when we hide our struggles, we also hide our strength."

[Craig Creasman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of essays about pain, grief, and loss. Incredibly heartrending while at the same time uplifting, I walked away with a better understanding of illness, particularly from the female perspective. As a physician dealing mostly with female patients, I will use the knowledge gained from this in my daily practice.

[Harmeet · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful read and a brilliantly edited piece of work. Through a collection of short stories and poems, this book turns the way we might look at a lot of things completely on its head. It expands our traditional notion of 'illness' by exploring personal - and seemingly nontraditional or less acceptable - experiences of care, life, death, pain, confusion, shame, and loneliness. The thoughts that are shared are shared so openly and vividly - at times, their rawness made them uncomfortable to read.
I hope this book makes it onto Medicine reading lists, but more importantly that it reaches a broader audience. Health and gender involve us all and at the very least, I personally would like to do a better job of acknowledging and appreciating the inevitably unique experiences of my family, my friends, and me.

[R S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, eye-opening and moving collection that will make you re-examine how illness creates and breaks down identity.

[Emory Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has really stirred up some memories; my great-grandma dying, my grandma dying of Parkinson's, how long it took for me to get diagnosed with endometriosis, and more.

It was good to see that there was someone with they/them pronouns included in this, however the gender element wasn't looked at hugely in depth, I think. It seemed to definitely be more about illness, and dying. Which is totally ok of course.

Because of this book I think I'll be seeking out more books about death, or maybe about life? The two are not separate after all.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick read so I think it was worth the time, but I didn't really relate to the essays like I thought I would when I heard the subject.

[Anna Schuessler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The contributors to Uprooted create a human community around questions about the body, its functions and failures, and its pull on our identities. The writers breathe life into the banal moments, uncertain prognoses, and challenged relationships that we encounter in the face of illness. They provide form for the incredible suffering and discovery that can, at times, engulf the illness experience. Upon this scaffolding, we are able to find humor and strength and join in an incredible quest for growth and truth. I highly recommend this book and commend the editors for their compassionate and incisive treatment of a universal, complex topic.