The Ways We Raise: Stories from many different types of modern families
For all the pregnancy tomes and parenting treatises available, there seems to be a lot of human stuff that doesn’t make it into print. Things that people forget to tell you, or simply forget. The real-life stories in this book will help to show the many ways there are to conceive and care for children and to help understand the choices some people make and why. We hope it sparks conversations, or inspires your own passage.
This book will be a visually dynamic collection of different voices from across Australia and New Zealand – both female and male, from all walks of life – sharing something of their own somersault into parenthood. It will include tales of IVF journeys, surrogacy, rainbow and single-parent families, adoption and foster parenting, the role of grandparents and the mother’s role in modern society. Why do some people not want children at all, and what are the social attitudes to this choice? What is it really like to raise kids when you live on the poverty line? Or as an immigrant, refugee or asylum seeker who must come to terms with the customs of a new country (or, indeed, a detention centre)? And how do we cope without the close-knit community there once was when it came to child rearing? Or do communities (including those with strong religious beliefs or communal lifestyles) keep the ‘it takes a village’ mentality alive?
Edited by Lucy Butler, a New Zealand writer, researcher and mum of two, and Keira Dickinson, co-founder of The Rag and Bone Man Press (and also a mum of two), this book will share the points of view of many diverse parents and guardians.
The book will be especially great for new parents coping with the onslaught of the first few months of having a newborn, and all of the immense physical, psychological and emotional adjustments that this entails.
We want to create the most useful and truthful book possible, but respect for our contributors and the spirit of sharing is first and foremost. Contributors will have ample time and opportunity to review their contributions and we’ll make sure everyone is comfortable with what goes to print. We encourage pieces that are no longer than 3,000 words (and as short as you like!). Photos or artistic interpretations are wonderful too – please send us high resolution jpeg files with a caption.
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us but please note this project is currently on hold in 2020.
This book will be a visually dynamic collection of different voices from across Australia and New Zealand – both female and male, from all walks of life – sharing something of their own somersault into parenthood. It will include tales of IVF journeys, surrogacy, rainbow and single-parent families, adoption and foster parenting, the role of grandparents and the mother’s role in modern society. Why do some people not want children at all, and what are the social attitudes to this choice? What is it really like to raise kids when you live on the poverty line? Or as an immigrant, refugee or asylum seeker who must come to terms with the customs of a new country (or, indeed, a detention centre)? And how do we cope without the close-knit community there once was when it came to child rearing? Or do communities (including those with strong religious beliefs or communal lifestyles) keep the ‘it takes a village’ mentality alive?
Edited by Lucy Butler, a New Zealand writer, researcher and mum of two, and Keira Dickinson, co-founder of The Rag and Bone Man Press (and also a mum of two), this book will share the points of view of many diverse parents and guardians.
The book will be especially great for new parents coping with the onslaught of the first few months of having a newborn, and all of the immense physical, psychological and emotional adjustments that this entails.
We want to create the most useful and truthful book possible, but respect for our contributors and the spirit of sharing is first and foremost. Contributors will have ample time and opportunity to review their contributions and we’ll make sure everyone is comfortable with what goes to print. We encourage pieces that are no longer than 3,000 words (and as short as you like!). Photos or artistic interpretations are wonderful too – please send us high resolution jpeg files with a caption.
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact us but please note this project is currently on hold in 2020.
