Repeal the 8th Anthology
By Una Mullally (editor)
A collection of stories, essays, poetry and photography around the movement for reproductive rights in Ireland
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About the book
Context: abortion is illegal in almost every circumstance in Ireland north and south.
Ireland is the only democracy in the western world to have a constitutional ban on abortion.
This is depressing and oppressive, but people are trying to change things.
The movement to repeal the 8th amendment, which is our constitutional ban on abortion, and make abortion legal in Ireland has been growing hugely over the last few years.
This movement is vibrant and urgent, coloured by righteous anger, people power, protest, and good old fashioned activism.
But it is also coloured by literature and art.
This fight for women in Ireland to rightfully claim their bodily autonomy in the eyes of the law stands on the shoulders of many people who have gone before us, many of whom are still fighting for women’s reproductive rights today.
This fight has created a new energised grassroots movement. All around the country and throughout the diaspora, Irish people and people who have made Ireland their home, are having conversations about how to change things. Protests are growing, groups are forming, for the first time women are opening up about being forced to travel for medical care en masse.
As this movement grows and develops, what’s becoming clear is the amount of amazing art and literature that is being created around it. There are poems and murals, essays and personal testimonies, photography projects and graphic design.
What I want to do with a book about this, is capture this movement, through the literature, personal stories, opinions, photography, art and design that is emerging from it so beautifully, and collect it in an anthology that has never been made before.
Here are three reasons that I think this anthology is worth making.
1. It will feature amazing writers, poets, artists and others that will stimulate and reflect a moment of huge social importance in Irish history.
2. These voices need to be heard. In newspapers and across broadcast media the debate around reproductive rights is a pitched battle. But we know that there is much more nuanced and smart writing there to be heard and collected.
3. In years to come when women in Ireland have bodily autonomy, we will have this book as an archive, a reference point for where the movement was, how it grew, and the dignity and beauty of the art that came from it.
You can help make it happen.
By pledging your support to this project, you’ll help make this anthology come into being, and your support will also earn you exclusive rewards detailed on this page.
You'll also be supporting The Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment. Once the initial subscription has been raised, then I'll be donating 50% of my profits to them.
Thank you.
Hello, I was wondering if you could explain how the works will be selected? Is there an open submission or is it by invite from the editor?
Hi Maureen, thanks for getting in touch! Currently it's on an invite/request basis, but that may change as the project progresses, so I'll keep you in the loop. Una
Hi, can you advise which formats the ebook is available in?
Hi Rosemary, Thanks for getting in touch. We create our ebooks in 3 formats: ebup. (for Apple and other ereaders), mobi. (for kindle) and PDF. These are DRM free so you can download them as many times as you like. Best wishes, Caitlin - Community Manager
Hiya! I'd like to pledge 45e but get the front dedication to someone else. Can't quite see how to put that into the order... Am I missing something obvious? Thanks (and best of luck with the book)
Hi James, Thanks for getting in touch. We ask for the dedications closer to the time of publication. If you want to change the name that goes in the back of the book in the meantime, please see here: http://help.unbound.com/unbound-for-readers/managing-your-subscriptions/changing-the-supporter-name-thats-printed-in-a-book Best wishes, Unbound Support