Bodies of Truth ― Personal Narratives on Illness, Disability, and Medicine

“Medicine still contains an oral tradition, passed down in stories: the stories patients tell us, the ones we tell them, and the ones we tell ourselves,” writes contributor Madaline Harrison. Bodies of Truth continues this tradition through a variety of narrative approaches by writers representing all facets of health care. And, since all of us have been or will be touched by illness or disability—our own or that of a loved one—at some point in our lives, any reader of this anthology can relate to the challenges, frustrations, and pain—both physical and emotional—that the contributors have experienced.

Bodies of Truth offers perspectives on a wide array of issues, from food allergies, cancer, and neurology to mental health, autoimmune disorders, and therapeutic music. These experiences are recounted by patients, nurses, doctors, parents, children, caregivers, and others who attempt to articulate the intangible human and emotional factors that surround life when it intersects with the medical field.

Dinty W. Moore is a professor and director of creative writing at Ohio University. He is the author of numerous books, including Crafting the Personal Essay: A Guide for Writing and Publishing Creative Nonfiction. Erin Murphy is a professor of English and creative writing at the Pennsylvania State University, Altoona College. She is the author of seven collections of poetry and coeditor of Creating Nonfiction: Twenty Essays and Interviews with the Writers. Renée K. Nicholson is an assistant professor in the programs for multi- and interdisciplinary studies at West Virginia University.Jacek L. Mostwin is a professor of urology and the director of the Division of Neurological and Reconstructive Urology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he also serves as faculty affiliate of the Berman Institute of Bioethics.