Paperback
978-1-77212-681-5Size: 6" x 9"
Pages: 224
epub
978-1-77212-690-7Pages: 224
Pages: 224
The COVID Journals
Health Care Workers Write the Pandemic
Edited by Shane Neilson, Sarah Fraser and Arundhati Dhara
Early in the pandemic, medical personnel were our front lines. What was that like? Through stories, art, and poetry, Canadian health-care workers from across the country recount their experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The contributors to The COVID Journals share the determination and fear they felt as they watched the crisis unfold, giving us an inside view of their lives at a time when care itself was redefined from moment to moment. Their narratives, at turns tender, angry, curious, and sometimes even joyful, highlight challenges and satisfactions that people will continue to explore and make sense of for years to come.
Contributors: Ewan Affleck, Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif, Manisha Bharadia, Christopher Blake, Candace de Taeye, Arundhati Dhara, Paul Dhillon, Liam Durcan, Monika Dutt, Sarah Fraser, David Gratzer, Jillian Horton, Andrew Howe, Monica Kidd, Jaime Lenet, Pam Lenkov, Suzanne Lilker, Jennifer Moore, Shane Neilson, Kacper Niburski, Elizabeth Niedra, Margaret Nowaczyk, Tolu Oloruntoba, Rory O’Sullivan, Jordan Pelc, Nick Pimlott, Angela E. Simmonds, Tanas Sylliboy, Helen Tang, Bobby Taylor, Tharshika Thangarasa, Diana Toubassi, Shan Wang, Marisa Webster, Chadwick Williams, Dolly Williams, Jiameng Xu.
Book details
Publication date: June 2023Features: 8 B&W images
Keywords: COVID; Pandemic; Health Care Heroes; Doctors; Nurses; Clinician; Family Physician; Medical Student; Poetry; Creative Nonfiction; Art; Health Humanities; Waves; Masks; Lockdown; Care; Healthcare; Medical Memoir; Diaries; Grief; Hope; Support; plague
Subject(s): BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Medical (incl. Patients), Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Auto/biography & Memoir, Health & Psychology, Health & Psychology / Medical Humanities, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Anthology, Memoir / Health Care, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Canadian, POETRY / Canadian / General, MEDICAL / Caregiving, Memoirs, Medical profession, Modern and contemporary poetry (c 1900 onwards), Anthology, Health and Medicine, Diaries, letters and journals, COVID; Pandemic; Health Care Heroes; Doctors; Nurses; Clinician; Family Physician; Medical Student; Poetry; Creative Nonfiction; Art; Health Humanities; Waves; Masks; Lockdown; Care; Healthcare; Medical Memoir; Diaries; Grief; Hope; Support; plague
Publisher(s): The University of Alberta Press
Book details
Publication date: June 2023Features: 8 B&W images
Keywords: COVID; Pandemic; Health Care Heroes; Doctors; Nurses; Clinician; Family Physician; Medical Student; Poetry; Creative Nonfiction; Art; Health Humanities; Waves; Masks; Lockdown; Care; Healthcare; Medical Memoir; Diaries; Grief; Hope; Support; plague
Subject(s): BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Medical (incl. Patients), Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Auto/biography & Memoir, Health & Psychology, Health & Psychology / Medical Humanities, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Anthology, Memoir / Health Care, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Canadian, POETRY / Canadian / General, MEDICAL / Caregiving, Memoirs, Medical profession, Modern and contemporary poetry (c 1900 onwards), Anthology, Health and Medicine, Diaries, letters and journals, COVID; Pandemic; Health Care Heroes; Doctors; Nurses; Clinician; Family Physician; Medical Student; Poetry; Creative Nonfiction; Art; Health Humanities; Waves; Masks; Lockdown; Care; Healthcare; Medical Memoir; Diaries; Grief; Hope; Support; plague
Publisher(s): The University of Alberta Press
"The COVID Journals leaps off the page as a rich unmasking of those whom we too often herald as heroes but too rarely come to know, offering the reader an appreciation of the individuality, pain, love, humour, and creativity of Canadian health-care workers." Lawrence Hill, novelist and essayist
“The COVID Journals brings readers into an encounter with the pandemic that is as exceptional as it is ordinary.” Emilia Nielsen, Associate Professor, York University
“Just as stories have been central to our lives as human beings over millennia, they are also central to medicine. The narratives in The COVID Journals reframe health care as a human endeavor.” Pamela Brett-MacLean, Associate Professor, and Director, Arts & Humanities in Health & Medicine, University of Alberta
1 Fight or Flight: The Ambivalent Health-Care Heroes of Pandemic Response, Canadian Edition | SHANE NEILSON
18 Uncertainty | PAUL DHILLON
22 The Sum of All Fears | TOLU OLORUNTOBA
26 A Journal of the Plague Year 2020 | NICK PIMLOTT
42 What I Will Not Doff | DIANA TOUBASSI
47 Workday | THARSHIKA THANGARASA
50 A Mask | MONICA KIDD
52 Facing the Unknown: Apprehensive, Overwhelmed, and Helpless | SHAN WANG
61 On Pandemic and Uselessness | JAIME LENET
67 Pandemic | JORDAN PELC
68 Prescription for Water | JIAMENG XU
70 Palliative Care | THARSHIKA THANGARASA
71 My So-Called COVID Life | JENNIFER MOORE
79 Pulling Strings | MONIKA DUTT
85 Disembodied” An Examination of the Examination in a Pandemic | LIAM DURCAN
93 Same But Different | DAVID GRATZER
97 I’m No Hero | SUZANNE LILKER
100 Sidelined | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
101 Behind the Front Line: (Or, the COVID Experience That Never Was) | RORY O’SULLIVAN
108 Singularity | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
109 With Beauty | KACPER NIBURSKI
114 Management Was Mad | SARAH FRASER
116 Preoccupations of a Public Health Resident | MARISA WEBSTER
119 Bongo Guy in Lockdown | CHRISTOPHER BLAKE
125 Mango Season | ARUNDHATI DHARA
132 Solidarity | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
133 I Am Letting Myself Go (Or, Humans of Late COVID) | ELIZABETH NIEDRA
136 Life and Death in Denendeh | EWAN AFFLECK
144 Jipasi na’sɨk melkitai | TANAS SYLLIBOY
145 In the ER, Patients Need My Comfort But I Am Scared to Give It | SARAH-TAÏSSIR BENCHARIF
149 Vicissitude | PAM LENKOV
152 Connection | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
153 What Was Missing | MARGARET NOWACZYK
162 A Family History in 2 Pandemics, 4 Infections, and 102 Years | JILLIAN HORTON
165 Endurance | MANISHA BHARADIA
167 Blowing Smoke in Your Ear | ANDREW HOWE, ANGELA SIMMONDS, BOBBY TAYLOR, and DOLLY WILLIAMS; facilitated by ARUNDHATI DHARA and CHADWICK WILLIAMS
185 It’s Hard Not to Slam a Fist on the Table When the Finish Line Keeps Lurching Further Ahead, or, Third Wave | CANDACE DE TAEYE
191 An Unconventional Conclusion | ARUNDHATI DHARA and SARAH FRASER
197 Acknowledgements
199 Contributors
"The COVID Journals leaps off the page as a rich unmasking of those whom we too often herald as heroes but too rarely come to know, offering the reader an appreciation of the individuality, pain, love, humour, and creativity of Canadian health-care workers." Lawrence Hill, novelist and essayist
“The COVID Journals brings readers into an encounter with the pandemic that is as exceptional as it is ordinary.” Emilia Nielsen, Associate Professor, York University
“Just as stories have been central to our lives as human beings over millennia, they are also central to medicine. The narratives in The COVID Journals reframe health care as a human endeavor.” Pamela Brett-MacLean, Associate Professor, and Director, Arts & Humanities in Health & Medicine, University of Alberta
1 Fight or Flight: The Ambivalent Health-Care Heroes of Pandemic Response, Canadian Edition | SHANE NEILSON
18 Uncertainty | PAUL DHILLON
22 The Sum of All Fears | TOLU OLORUNTOBA
26 A Journal of the Plague Year 2020 | NICK PIMLOTT
42 What I Will Not Doff | DIANA TOUBASSI
47 Workday | THARSHIKA THANGARASA
50 A Mask | MONICA KIDD
52 Facing the Unknown: Apprehensive, Overwhelmed, and Helpless | SHAN WANG
61 On Pandemic and Uselessness | JAIME LENET
67 Pandemic | JORDAN PELC
68 Prescription for Water | JIAMENG XU
70 Palliative Care | THARSHIKA THANGARASA
71 My So-Called COVID Life | JENNIFER MOORE
79 Pulling Strings | MONIKA DUTT
85 Disembodied” An Examination of the Examination in a Pandemic | LIAM DURCAN
93 Same But Different | DAVID GRATZER
97 I’m No Hero | SUZANNE LILKER
100 Sidelined | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
101 Behind the Front Line: (Or, the COVID Experience That Never Was) | RORY O’SULLIVAN
108 Singularity | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
109 With Beauty | KACPER NIBURSKI
114 Management Was Mad | SARAH FRASER
116 Preoccupations of a Public Health Resident | MARISA WEBSTER
119 Bongo Guy in Lockdown | CHRISTOPHER BLAKE
125 Mango Season | ARUNDHATI DHARA
132 Solidarity | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
133 I Am Letting Myself Go (Or, Humans of Late COVID) | ELIZABETH NIEDRA
136 Life and Death in Denendeh | EWAN AFFLECK
144 Jipasi na’sɨk melkitai | TANAS SYLLIBOY
145 In the ER, Patients Need My Comfort But I Am Scared to Give It | SARAH-TAÏSSIR BENCHARIF
149 Vicissitude | PAM LENKOV
152 Connection | MENGXI (HELEN) TANG
153 What Was Missing | MARGARET NOWACZYK
162 A Family History in 2 Pandemics, 4 Infections, and 102 Years | JILLIAN HORTON
165 Endurance | MANISHA BHARADIA
167 Blowing Smoke in Your Ear | ANDREW HOWE, ANGELA SIMMONDS, BOBBY TAYLOR, and DOLLY WILLIAMS; facilitated by ARUNDHATI DHARA and CHADWICK WILLIAMS
185 It’s Hard Not to Slam a Fist on the Table When the Finish Line Keeps Lurching Further Ahead, or, Third Wave | CANDACE DE TAEYE
191 An Unconventional Conclusion | ARUNDHATI DHARA and SARAH FRASER
197 Acknowledgements
199 Contributors
