Fresh Courage Take:
|
Fresh Courage Take (Signature Books, 2015) contains essays from twelve different Mormon and post-Mormon women who expand the definition of what it means to be a "good" woman—in particular, a woman who lives in or has been affected by a religiously conservative culture. Excerpt from the dust jacket:
"The age-old question of gender roles may not be solved within the pages of this book, but these twelve candid, almost lyrical confessions reveal some of the anxieties, sorrows, and joys of a diverse sample of Mormon women. Collectively, the twelve contributors demonstrate that a one-size-fits-all approach to womanhood leaves some women feeling like they do not fit." |
ContentsForeword by Joanna Brooks, professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University and author of The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith.
Introduction by Jamie Zvirzdin, post-Mormon author and editor. Contributors include Colleen Whitley, Erika Ball, Rachael Decker Bailey, Karen Critchfield, Carli Anderson, Jamie Zvirzdin, Brooke Stoneman, Ashley Mae Hoiland, Sylvia Lankford, Marcee Monroe, Rachel Brown, and Camille Strate Fairbanks. Awards3/5/16 Finalist for the 2015 Smith-Pettit Foundation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Mormon Letters, Creative Nonfiction
9/1/16 Nominated for Best Anthology by the John Whitmer Historical Association |
Reviews & Articles
Miranda Kennedy, Los Angeles Review of Books, "In Dialogue with Dogma: Women Doing Battle with Religion."
Jana Riess, Flunking Sainthood (Religion News Service), "Mormon author says 'we just can’t shame women' for not following the wife-and-mother script." Maxine Hanks, Dialogue: Journal of Mormon Thought, "Review: Fresh Honesty in Authentic Mormon Identity Jamie Zvirzdin, ed. Fresh Courage Take: New Directions by Mormon Women," p. 202. Rachel Hunt Steenblik, The Exponent, "Book Review: Fresh Courage Take." Dave Banack, Times and Seasons, "Review: Fresh Courage Take, or What It's Like to Be a Mormon Woman." Stephen Marsh, Wheat & Tares, "Fresh Courage Take--Book Review." Kristine Anderson, Wheat & Tares, "Read. This. Book." Mica McGriggs, Feminist Mormon Housewives, "Fresh Courage Take: A Book Review." |
Tell us what you think! Please share on Facebook, leave a review,
or tweet a response to #FreshCourageTake.
Available in hardcover and for Kindle.
or tweet a response to #FreshCourageTake.
Available in hardcover and for Kindle.
Advanced Praise for Fresh Courage Take
Carol Lynn Pearson, author of Beginnings and Beyond; Goodbye, I Love You; Mother Wove the Morning; and The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy: Haunting the Hearts and Heaven of Mormon Women and Men:“Fresh Courage Take serves up a nourishing dish from the hands of skilled Mormon women—a stew with good conservative meat, liberal spices, and a rich variety of experiences, choices, and insights from across the garden of this great sisterhood. Comfort food. With occasional bite. Thanks, Sisters!”
Judith Freeman, author of The Chinchilla Farm, Red Water, and The Latter Days: A Memoir“If you want to get a sense of where Mormon women are today, this collection of essays, Fresh Courage Take, might be a good place to start. Here you will find the voices of modern LDS women questioning not so much their religion as how to navigate their longings, desires, strengths, and dilemmas within the faith. Whether the subject is motherhood, nurturing one’s intelligence fully, or remaining single and childless in a culture that celebrates neither, these Mormon women, in the end, like Buddhist women and those of other faiths, extoll the joys and challenges of our times, and give voice to their search for a rich and harmonious life.”
|
Martha Bradley Evans, Associate Academic Vice President, University of Utah; author of Four Zinas: A Story of Mothers and Daughters on the Mormon Frontier:
“The state of grace proposed by these essays promises a more equitable,
fair, and just world, safe for our daughters to live in, where women
wear feminism as common ground and where men share the richness that
results. I loved this collection of essays.”
Lindsay Hansen Park, assistant director, Sunstone Education Foundation; host, Feminist Mormon Housewives podcast:
“It’s critical for women to be able to share their stories and find
empowerment, within their own lives and the lives of others, by relating
personal experiences. There is a power and strength in being able to
connect with the lives of others, and that’s why this book is so
important. It is the work of lifting up other women through the
amplification of one’s own experiences.”
|
Polly Aird, former executive board member of the Mormon History Association, author of Mormon Convert, Mormon Defector: A Scottish Immigrant in the American West, 1848–1861, and co-editor along with Jeff Nichols and Will Bagley of Playing with Shadows: Voices of Dissent in the Mormon West:
“Not being Mormon—although I have worked in Mormon history for the last 25 years—I didn’t think Fresh Courage Take would hold much interest for me. I was wrong. I was surprised at the open honesty of the writers of the essays in the book, who in their struggles have dealt with both general cultural issues and specific beliefs or accepted mores of their religion. Each has found a place for herself in the LDS Church in spite of not always meeting the idealized role of womanhood that the church promotes. I admire the courage of these women and their willingness to write so candidly about their trials and experiences. I think this will be an important book for many LDS women—and perhaps non-LDS women as well—in their own striving to find a place that works for them.”
Additional Resources
Mormon Spectrum is a new website that provides resources across the board of LDS belief. Their views on cross-border dialogue are compatible with the goals of Fresh Courage Take:
We hope that with a better understanding of the various perspectives within the spectrum we will forge better understanding and empathy between us all, so that our relationships are not harmed by our different views and choices.
Fresh Courage Take Release Party
at Benchmark Books, SLC, UT
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Presentation at 2015 Sunstone Symposium, SLC, UT
Thursday, July 30, 2015