Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis

Art keeps good alive in the worst of times. In the face of ugliness, pain, and death, it’s art that has the power to open us all to a healing imagining of new possibility; it’s art that whispers to the collective that even in the ashes of loss, life always grows again. That’s why right now, in this tumultuous time of war and pandemic, we need poets more than we need politicians.

In response to the multitude of global crises we’re currently experiencing, editor Stefanie Raffelock put out a much-needed call to her writing community for art to uplift and inform the world, and the authors of She Writes Press answered. Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis—a sometimes comforting, sometimes devastating, but universally relatable collection of prose, poetry, and art about living through difficult times like these—is the result. Addressing topics including grief and loss, COVID-19 and war in Ukraine, the gravity of need and being needed, the broad range of human response to crisis in all its forms, and more, these pieces explore how we can find beauty, hope, and deeper interpretation of world events through art—even when the world seems like it’s been turned inside out and upside-down.

Any and all royalties from Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis will be donated to World Central Kitchen.

Publication Date: June 7, 2022

Editor: Stephanie Raffelock

Foreword By: Brooke Warner

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Description

“These are brave and beautiful and riveting pieces that reinforce the absolute truth that art indeed saves lives, and to make art in the midst of war or crisis or any form of turbulence is triumphant. To make things—create things—to ‘write, to sing, to dance, to pay homage to grief upon an altar in the corner of our garden,’ as Stephanie Raffelock writes in the introduction, is indeed how we change the world, clean up the messes of hatred and violence and indecency. Making art is life-changing and life-affirming, and this book, this stunning collection, is filled to the brim with that affirmation.”
—Amy Ferris, Author, Marrying George Clooney, Confessions from a Midlife Crisis

About Editor

Stephanie Raffelock is a graduate of Naropa University’s program in writing and poetics. She has penned articles for numerous publications, including The Aspen Times, Quilters MagazineCare2.com, Nexus Magazine, Omaha Lifestyles, and The Rogue Valley Messenger. Currently she writes a monthly column for SixtyandMe.com. A recent transplant to Austin, Texas, she enjoys life with her husband, Dean, and their Labrador retriever, Jeter (yes, named after the great Yankee shortstop). Raffelock lives an active life that she fills with hiking, Pilates, and swimming in an attempt to offset the amount of time that she spends in her head thinking up stories and essays.

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