Rona Altrows is a brilliant and painstaking editor, fiction writer, essayist, and playwright: the Press is proud to have published three theme-based anthologies with her. The latest is You Look Good for Your Age. With Naomi K. Lewis, she co-edited Shy, and with Julie Sedivy she co-edited Waiting.
“I returned to the same respiratory therapist for my annual checkup. I told her that her words to me, ‘You look good for your age,’ had inspired a book.
From the Preface
‘Wow!’ she said. ‘You wrote a whole book about that?’
‘Twenty-nine kick-ass writers wrote it,’ I said. She gave me a thumbs up.”
You Look Good for Your Age is a book about women and ageism. There are twenty-nine contributing writers, ranging in age from their forties to their nineties. Through essays, short stories, and poetry, they share their distinct opinions, impressions, and speculations on aging and ageism and their own growth as people. In these thoughtful, fierce, and funny works, the writers show their belief in women and the aging process.
The book has appeared on bestseller lists in Edmonton and Calgary ten times since its publication in May 2021 and there were almost 150 people in attendance at its virtual launch. Several videos with authors reading from their piece are found in this playlist on our YouTube channel.
Reviews
“Vulnerability and honesty are found in these pages, and raw power too. Readers will cheer these brave writers on as they refuse to allow stereotypes to smother their voice and experience.” Carissa Halton, author of Little Yellow House
“Just as aging women can be invisible in our society, they’re often invisible to our cultural curators. This collection brilliantly addresses that blind spot, with wisdom, humour, and fine writing.” Angie Abdou, author of This One Wild Life
“Altrows stated that her wish for young readers is that through this anthology, they will get a sense of what it is like to be in the mind and body of an older woman…. By sharing pieces from women who have had first hand experience with aging, readers are able to better understand the effects of the ageist ideals our society upholds.” Megan Gervais, The Gateway
Contents
Insight
3 The Fixable (Nonfiction), SHARON BUTALA
13 Fearing (Nonfiction), ARIEL GORDON
25 Who Counts the Years? (Nonfiction), MAUREEN BUSH
29 Intent to Forgive (Nonfiction), JOY KOGAWA
33 A barn swallow relative to objects and places (Poetry), WENDY MCGRATH
35 the petals in me (Poetry), LAURIE MACFAYDEN
Elders
39 Listen (Fiction), ANNE SORBIE
47 Back to the Garden (Nonfiction), ELIZABETH HAYNES
55 Upriver (Nonfiction), ROBERTA REES
73 Help Fund Pam’s Vital Medical Procedure (Fiction), OLYN OZBICK
93 Sundowning (Fiction), DEBBIE BATEMAN
107 Perfect Purple Rose (Poetry), ELIZABETH GREENE
Body
113 you will be amazed (Poetry), LAURIE MACFAYDEN
115 Mastery of the Instrument (Nonfiction), JOANN MCCAIG
127 Body Composition (Nonfiction), WENDY MCGRATH
133 The Roxy Project (Fiction), CECELIA FREY
145 Rarification (Nonfiction), VIVIAN HANSEN
Love
155 The Art of the Scarf (Fiction), DEBBIE BATEMAN
171 She Will Drive (Fiction), LISA MURPHY LAMB
189 One More Minute (Poetry), JOAN CRATE
191 The Shave (Fiction), RONA ALTROWS
Timelines
201 Telescoping (Nonfiction), JULIE SEDIVY
211 Rajiana (Poetry), MONI BRAR
215 Aging in Three-Year Increments (Nonfiction), LAURA WERSHLER
227 Lilly’s Funeral (Fiction), MADELAINE SHAW-WONG
237 How I Got Old (Nonfiction), DORA DUECK
245 Adult Tween (Nonfiction), PAULA E. KIRMAN
253 Shuffle (Nonfiction), JANE CAWTHORNE
257 She shops at the Sally Ann and Value Village (Poetry), JOAN CRATE
Enough!
261 Part of the Furniture (Nonfiction), ARITHA VAN HERK
271 Kissing Kismet Goodbye (Poetry), MONI BRAR
273 Lookin’ Back (Nonfiction), LORRI NEILSEN GLENN
277 Well Preserved (Nonfiction), E. D. MORIN
281 One More Word (Poetry), JOYCE HARRIES