About the Book
As a nurse, I have spent so much time during this pandemic feeling powerless and unheard, and being included in this anthology is the opposite of that. I am so thankful. - Kristen Taleen Featuring the works of Abi Hunter, A.S. Burrell, Adam Shove, Ahsen Waheed, Amanda Roth, Andrew Palumbo, Ann Garcia, Anna Barnett, Anna K. Dalton, Benidamika, Bhaskar Khaund, Brett Winters, Brianna Jo Hobson, Caitlan Docherty, Caitlin Obertreis, Caitlin Upshall, Ceri Baker, Corinna Board, Devon Bohm, Diana Wiese, Divya Gupta, Ellie Morfou, Emily Polson, Emmanuella Hristova, Eva Groebl, Isabelle Goh, Jax Bulstrode, Jen Miller, Jennie Louise, Jennifer Carl, Juhi Sharma, Julian Earley, Kaci Skiles Laws, Kaila Gallacher, Kalpana Komal, K.C. Miller, Kaylin Moss, Kelly Lin, Kerry O'Connor, Kim McKellar, Kristen Taleen, L.A. Barnett, L.C. May, Laura Jameson, Lauren Chandler, Laurie Briar, Leon Dunne, Liz Naven, L. R. Cunningham, Lydia Price, Lynne Ellis, Lynnea Fitzgerald, Maeghan Mary Suzik, Margaret Doyle, Margaret Hanzel, Mariam, Marta Palandri, Melissa Jane, Nadia Habib, Paloma McKim, Poppy Jennings, Priyanka Menon, Rachel Jeffcoat, Raquel Franco, Rha, Ritwika Maity, Rose Stevens, Ryan Olenick, Sami George Zarour, Sarah Blakely, Sarah Drury, Sergina Sergio, Shay Rose, Shayoni Thakkar, Shoshannah Violet Cotton, Sindhu Rajasekaran, Srijan, Stephanie Johnson, Susan Williamson, Tanvi Jain, Tayla Jacoby, Zara Allardyce and Zara Bosman. Sometimes, big things happen. So big, that we don't even dare name them. We refer to moments instead. The day of. The night before. The morning after. We all hoped that 2021 would be The Year After. But wherever tears and shivers prevail, poetry sweeps in, acting as our tissues and blankets, knitted together by poets from lock downed rooms around the world. We gathered these poems in our Anthology. Together, they form a quilt of virus vignettes. It shows the horripilating nights of healthcare workers and sterile goodbyes via Zoom. It shows being infected, losing your senses, and struggling to breathe. In other words: it shows COVID-19 as it was. With this Anthology, we hope to honour essential workers worldwide. We hope to draw attention to their importance. To their value. To the gruelling scenes they encounter and survive. We hope to give them more than applause - recognition, appreciation, and our gratitude.
