Head Above Water: Reflections on Illness

Engaging and enriching understanding of illness and disability, written by an author who lives with Multiple Sclerosis and has experienced living with disability herself. Head Above Water takes us into a space of intimate conversations on illness and society’s stigmatisation of disabled bodies. We are invited in to ask the big questions about life, loss, and the place of the other. The narrative builds a bridge that reminds us of our common humanity and weaves the threads that tie us all together. Through conversations about women’s identities, bodies, and our journeys through life, we arrive at a politics of love, survival, and hope. SELLING POINTS: . Engaging and enriching understanding of illness and disability . Author lives with Multiple Sclerosis and has experienced living with disability herself . The book deals with relationships and discrimination in the context of disability . Deals with topical issues like women’s bodies, women’s health issues, identities, family, friendships, cultural taboos; misogyny; Middle Eastern culture . Provides a greater understanding of the Arab world and illness in the Middle East . Emphasises the importance of human connection and each of our personal stories . The book is suitable for the Barbellion Prize dedicated to the furtherance of ill and disabled voices in writing AUTHOR: Shahd Alshammari is assistant professor of literature and lives with Multiple Sclerosis. She was diagnosed at the age of 18. Her works center on disability, women’s studies, and Arab women’s narratives.