The healing power of life writing, one shared story at a time

This Is How It Is a “refreshing, poignant and wide-ranging” (Helen Moffett) collection of real life experiences: 52 stories, prose and poetry, that tell of a man who is anxious about an HIV test; a child with an alarming nose for gossip and a girl who is saved by the enemy in a war zone. Some of the writers are grieving the loss of a child or struggling with addiction, abuse, bullying or betrayal. Most of these writers have never been published before. They wrote these stories primarily to bear witness to their lives and the troubled times in which we live. Putting traumatic experiences down on paper can help people work through shame, guilt and fear, releasing them from the traps they lay. Writing is sometimes able to turn a painful incident into something more manageable, even beautiful.

Sharing stories can also heal both the writer and the reader. When we first meet a stranger, we make assumptions about them. When we hear of their life in their own words, we find that many of our negative assumptions are wrong. Often we discover that we are more alike than we are different. Our magnificent world is in trouble, much of it because we are not paying attention to what is right in front of us. When the facts don’t stir us to reconsider, story can. This anthology invites us to become curious and reflective rather than fearful and defensive. It encourages us to climb down from the ladder of hierarchy and competition and to join the circle of relationship and humanity by becoming vulnerable enough to share and listen to our own and each other’s half-hidden stories.

But equally importantly, Bongani Kona, 2016 Caine Prize finalist, reminds us: “We forget that the most daring thing we can do is to allow ourselves to be seen. To stand before the world and to say this is who I am. This is how it is.”

About THE LIFE RIGHTING COLLECTIVE: The Life Righting Collective (LRC) runs courses for anyone who wants to learn to write about their experiences. The approach promotes self-discovery, self-recovery and more effective communication. It raises funds to make courses available to those in need of sponsorship and to provide platforms for these life stories to be published. Sharing experiences with a wide readership can help reduce discrimination and promote mutual understanding. Visit the website: www.liferighting.com

We've become used to thinking of plants as things for us to use: as food, tools, resources, or just as an attractive background to our own lives. But it's time to change our minds. New research shows that plants can think, plan - and may even have memories. We share our planet with beings whose potential we have only glimpsed. Featuring the writing of Robin Wall Kimmerer, Susie Orbach and Merlin Sheldrake, This Book is a Plant will be your handbook to the new reality: showing you a pathway to completely reimagine your relationship with a different kind of natural world. Delve into a world of moss and fungi: Sheila Watt-Cloutier transports us to the Arctic spring, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan discovers the pleasures of painting trees, and Rebecca Tamas puts roots down through earth and soil. This Book is a Plant is made from paper: it was once part of a tree. But it's also a seed: the first shoots of a radical new way of seeing the world around you. Featuring stunning illustrations by Eduardo Navarro, and accompanying a major 2022 Wellcome Collection exhibition, Rooted Beings.

In recent years, the far right has done everything in its power to accelerate the heating: an American president who believes it is a hoax has removed limits on fossil fuel production. The Brazilian president has opened the Amazon and watched it burn. In Europe, parties denying the crisis and insisting on maximum combustion have stormed into office, from Sweden to Spain. On the brink of breakdown, the forces most aggressively promoting business-as-usual have surged - always in defense of white privilege, against supposed threats from non-white others. Where have they come from? The first study of the far right in the climate crisis, White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism presents an eye-opening sweep of a novel political constellation, and reveals its deep historical roots. Fossil-fueled technologies were born steeped in racism. None loved them more passionately than the classical fascists. As such forces rise to the surface, some profess to have the solution - closing borders to save the climate. Epic and riveting, White Skin, Black Fuel traces a future of political fronts that can only heat up.

Our Small Bullet Journal with marble printed pattern is a pretty example of the Italian art of marbleising paper. Our paper soft-covered paperback notebook has full-colour artwork on the front and back cover by the best illustrators and artists from around the world. 120 pages of lined paper is an excellent canvas for bullet journaling, list-making, all forms of writing and doodling. Bring it everywhere you go. Handsome exposed, section-sewn binding means the notebook lies flat when open on any page. Soft-covered paperback notebook. Full-colour artwork on front and back cover. 120, lined printed pages. Exposed, section-sewn binding. Colour coordinated dip-dyed edges. Lays flat. Measures: 114 x 178 x 9mm.

As We Rise presents an exciting compilation of photographs from African diasporic culture. With over one hundred works by Black artists from Canada, the Caribbean, Great Britain, the United States, South America, as well as throughout the African continent, this volume provides a timely exploration of Black identity on both sides of the Atlantic. As Teju Cole describes in his preface, "Too often in the larger culture, we see images of Black people in attitudes of despair, pain, or brutal isolation. As We Rise gently refuses that. It is not that people are always in an attitude of celebration-no, that would be a reverse but corresponding falsehood-but rather that they are present as human beings, credible, fully engaged in their world." Drawn from Dr. Kenneth Montague's Wedge Collection in Toronto-a Black-owned collection dedicated to artists of African descent-As We Rise looks at the multifaceted ideas of Black life through the lenses of community, identity, and power. Artists such as Stan Douglas, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Barkley L. Hendricks, Texas Isaiah, Liz Johnson Artur, Seydou Keita, Deana Lawson, Jamel Shabazz, and Carrie Mae Weems, touch on themes of agency, beauty, joy, belonging, subjectivity, and self-representation. Writings by Isolde Brielmaier, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, Mark Sealy, Teka Selman, and Deborah Willis among others provide insight and commentary on this monumental collection.

The Collaborative Body in Qualitative Research challenges normative philosophies that have frequently neglected the body’s place in research, and then illustrates how the body is essential for all meaning making. By ‘voicing the body’, the first part of this rebellious book problematizes how the body is used/assessed, yet often silenced in academic writing. This book then fluidly moves to celebrating the body through discussing taboo topics like sex/sexuality in friendship, underwear (knickers), ageing and death, as well as how a non-binary body moves in a heteronormative world. Through the lens of Bodyography, this book does research differently - illuminating how the body flourishes, excites knowledge, and is complicated when placed in a ‘screen’. This book celebrates a collaborative and arts-based approach. This book is a dialogue between The Bodies Collective with dialogic resonance sections between each chapter and art pieces throughout. This book will engage all scholars to do research differently. Anyone with a thirst to challenge normative practices in academia and wants research to be inspiring and playful will fall in love with this book.

This marble-print paper soft-covered paperback notebook has full-colour artwork on the front and back cover by the best illustrators and artists from around the world. 140 pages of 5mm dot-grid paper is an excellent canvas for bullet journaling, list-making, all forms of writing and doodling. Bring it everywhere you go. Handsome exposed, section-sewn binding means the notebook lies flat when open on any page. Soft-covered paperback notebook. Full-colour artwork on front and back cover. 140, lined printed pages. Exposed, section-sewn binding. Colour coordinated dip-dyed edges. Lays flat. Measures: 210 x 146 x 9mm.

The Collaborative Body in Qualitative Research challenges normative philosophies that have frequently neglected the body’s place in research, and then illustrates how the body is essential for all meaning making. By ‘voicing the body’, the first part of this rebellious book problematizes how the body is used/assessed, yet often silenced in academic writing. This book then fluidly moves to celebrating the body through discussing taboo topics like sex/sexuality in friendship, underwear (knickers), ageing and death, as well as how a non-binary body moves in a heteronormative world. Through the lens of Bodyography, this book does research differently - illuminating how the body flourishes, excites knowledge, and is complicated when placed in a ‘screen’. This book celebrates a collaborative and arts-based approach. This book is a dialogue between The Bodies Collective with dialogic resonance sections between each chapter and art pieces throughout. This book will engage all scholars to do research differently. Anyone with a thirst to challenge normative practices in academia and wants research to be inspiring and playful will fall in love with this book.

Historically, marbled paper has been used for decor projects from book-binding to wallpaper and everything in between. This Florentine collection is a mesmerising design, 4 images packaged in a beautiful box. Useful as a gift or for your own correspondence, this box looks just as beautiful on the mantle or desk. 20 notecards and envelopes, 5 each of 4 images. Packaged in a sleek, sturdy flip-top box with magnetic closure. Cards printed on coated paper stock to bring out their full colour. Cards and envelopes bundled together with a paper belly band inside each box. Box measurements 143 x 120 x 34mm.

'Another chocolate book?' you might say? The answer is: this book is different than any other book on the market! The Chocolatier's Kitchen offers over 270 simple, concrete and practical recipes, covering the entire spectrum in confectionary (from bonbon, to truffles, snack bars...). From short, to medium or long shelf life, inspired by the Callebaut five colours of chocolate and executed in different chocolate types. The proud collective of Callebaut Chefs have bundled their expertise to conquer hearts and deliver inspiration, motivation and knowledge for every chocolate artisan & Chef, whether you are starting or want to further grow your chocolate business. With contributions from the Callebaut Chefs Tribe: Davide Comaschi, Philippe Vancayseele, Clare England, Beverley Dunkley, Mark Tilling, Ciro Fraddanno and Ryan Stevenson

Her vision and politics have set her at the forefront of contemporary poetry and her work has a far-reaching impact on all poets and readers of poetry today. A dedicated and inspired teacher, her innovative and highly successful poetry program, Poetry for the People, has recently emerged as a national phenomenon.

"Feminist Review" is the UK's leading feminist journal. A combination of the academic and the activist, it has an acclaimed position within women's studies courses and the women's movement. This issue of "Feminist Review" offers a current feminist reading and analysis of ethnicity. It ranges from an analysis of the social geographies of whiteness in the USA to a variety of perspectives on the break-up of Yugoslavia and how this has been experienced by women living with the political realities of civil war.

This issue of "Feminist Review" contains a range of articles which discuss pressing contemporary issues for feminists. Shireen Hassim's analysis of gender issues in Inkatha looks at the ways in which Zulu nationalism has legitimated forms of male power through a return to "tradition" and "the family". Lama Abnu Odeh in "Post-Colonialism, Feminism and the Veil" explores the complexities of her own and other women's attitudes to the veil - that most potent symbol of Islamic culture. Jane Lewis reflects in her article on the way in which the menopause and HRT have become subjects of intensive debate amongst the medical profession and social science researchers, and aims to place feminist concerns within this agenda. Jenny Morris challenges feminists to think about disability by arguing that it has never been central to the mainstream feminist agenda and that feminist analysis has an important contribution to make to the understanding of disability. Finally Anna Marie Smith addresses the concerns of the Feminists Against Pornography.

This collection of articles on women's issues should be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and academics of women's studies, cultural studies, sociology, women's history and literature, as well as the general reader.