Hello, RhetComp Mothers—
Some of you know about the nonprofit organization The ART of Infertility, which has hosted numerous reproductive loss exhibits at universities and art galleries around the U.S. Today, I am excited to announce the forthcoming publication Infertilities, A Curation (Wayne State University Press) with my dear friends and collaborators, Elizabeth Horn and Robin Silbergleid. The book will be released on September, 19, 2023 and currently is available for pre-orders, via your local independent bookstores, Bookshop.org, Amazon, and Wayne State University Press.
Curious about the book? The creative work in this collection highlights the varied perspectives of individuals who have lived with infertility and include perspectives from women, men, and nonbinary and transgender individuals, as well as heterosexual couples, single parents by choice, and lesbian and queer-identified couples. This collection intentionally makes visible the emotional depths of infertility. From diagnosis and treatment, adoption, or living childfree, to miscarriage and pregnancy loss, editors, writers, and artists explore the range of experiences with infertility and their psychological, physical, and emotional impacts in all aspects of life. The collection is intended not only for individuals who have experienced infertility, but also academics, including rhetoricians, medical personnel, and the general public.
We will have a virtual book launch and reading with Literati on November 15; if you are interested in registering for the event, please do so on their website. You can also keep up with other events on the book’s landing page on our website.
Here are what others have said about the book:
‘This is a beautiful anthology about a very difficult thing, which so many people go through and yet so often feel alone in. The inventive variety of artistic expression represent how individually infertility is experienced. For readers who have been isolated in infertility, here is community.‘ -Meg Lemke, editor-in-chief of MUTHA Magazine
‘A gorgeous, moving, and deeply important book. The art this book showcases, and the short stories behind each piece, remind us that the complicated, painful, and often invisible experience of infertility is both shared and singular. Highly recommended for scholars of reproductive health and justice and especially for people experiencing the pain of infertility who would like to feel a little less alone.’ – Jenell Johnson, professor of communication arts, University of Wisconsin–Madison
‘Infertilities, A Curation offers a one-of-a-kind contribution about the experience of existing within the liminal space of infertility. It speaks to and with ongoing discussions of health communication, rhetoric, gender, sex, and identity. The editors and contributors do a beautiful job of dimensionalizing infertility, bringing art, affect, theory, literature, and passion to the table in ways that are groundbreaking and heartbreaking all at the same time.’ – Robin Jensen, professor of communication, University of Utah
‘This daring collection harnesses the power of the arts to dismantle isolation and stigma, letting the light shine through to reveal hidden layers of the infertility experience. With its diverse voices and vignettes, Infertilities, A Curation deepens our understanding of infertility’s profound and complex reverberations.’ – Laura Seftel, LMHC, ATR-BC, art therapist, author of Grief Unseen: Healing Pregnancy Loss through the Arts, and founder of The Secret Club Project: Artists on Pregnancy Loss
‘Infertilities, A Curation offers an honest expression of experiences with infertility. The artworks and narratives in this book reveal the complexity of this condition and the profound personal journeys along its path. Infertilities, A Curation should be required reading in every health humanities curriculum—particularly at this time of vulnerability around reproductive health. – Lisa Erdman, MFA, DA, Humanities Postdoctoral Scholar, Penn State College of Medicine
‘While I was moved by each individual piece, the power of Infertilities, A Curation exists as a collection. Constructed as a care-full curation of visual art, poetry, and creative nonfiction, the text offers a ‘visual and textual performance of infertility.’ This creative critical form invites the reader to feel and see themselves in and in between, within and among the lives and experiences of the artists and writers. In being offered intimate access to the ways others have struggled with their own assumptions about love, fertility, and family, we are gifted an opportunity to reflect on our own vulnerability in these areas whether infertility has directly impacted our lives or not. And maybe that’s the actual gift of this work. The idea that whether any of us believes it, we are all impacted by the white heterosexist narratives about childbearing and family sovereignty that continue to dominate our medical and legal systems. I would recommend this book to anyone who understands and sees themself as part of a family—chosen, biological, or otherwise.’ – Ames Hawkins, author of These are Love(d) Letters (Wayne State University Press)
Maria Novotny, Ph.D.
(she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
Rhetoric, Professional Writing, and Community Engagement
Department of English
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Curtin Hall 488
Milwaukee, WI 53211
novotnmt
www.marianovotny.com
New book here! —> Infertilities, A Curation
UWM resides on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homelands along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present.
