ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 is a collection of essays, poems, and interviews to serve as a lifeline for negotiating how to connect and thrive during this stressful time of isolation as well as a historical perspective that will remain relevant for years to come. All contributing authors and business partners are donating their share to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, a nonprofit organization that coordinates charitable programs to strengthen the bookselling community. The roster of diverse voices includes Faith Adiele, Kwame Alexander, Jenna Blum, Andre Dubus III, Jamie Ford, Nikki Giovanni, Pam Houston, Jean Kwok, Major Jackson, Devi S. Laskar, Caroline Leavitt, Ada Limón, Dani Shapiro, David Sheff, Garth Stein, Luis Alberto Urrea, Steve Yarbrough, and Lidia Yuknavitch. ALONE TOGETHER is divided into five sections: What Now?, Grieve, Comfort, Connect, And Don't Stop. The overarching theme is how this age of isolation and uncertainty is changing us as individuals and a society.
Authors
JENNA BLUM is the New York Times and internationally bestselling author of novels THOSE WHO SAVE US (Harcourt, 2004), THE STORMCHASERS (Dutton, 2010), and THE LOST FAMILY (Harper Collins, 2018); the novella "The Lucky One" in GRAND CENTRAL (Berkeley/Penguin, July 2014); the audio course “The Author At Work: The Art of Writing Fiction” (Recorded Books, 2015); memoir WOODROW ON THE BENCH, about her last seven months with her beloved 15-year-old black Lab and what they taught her (Harper Collins, 2021); and WWII audiodrama THE KEY OF LOVE (Emerald Audio Network, 2023), available on any major podcast streaming platform. Jenna is the CoFounder/ CEO of online author platform A Mighty Blaze, and she's one of Oprah's Top 30 Women Writers. Jenna’s first novel, Those Who Save Us, was awarded the Ribalow Prize by Hadassah Magazine, adjudged by Elie Wiesel; it was a Borders pick and the #1 bestselling book in Holland. The Stormchasers, Jenna’s bestselling second novel, was a Target Emerging Authors pick, a Borders pick, and featured in French Elle. Her third bestseller, The Lost Family, was an Indiebound pick and garnered starred reviews from all four trades: Publishers’ Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist, LIbrary Journal. The bestselling memoir Woodrow on the Bench was a Midwestern Booksellers’ pick and is now available in paperback. Jenna is based in Boston, where she taught at Boston University and at Grub Street Writers for over 20 years. Jenna currently teaches fiction, novel, and social media marketing for writers via Blaze Writers Project, based in Boston and online. She speaks nationally, internationally, and online about her work and writing life. Please visit Jenna on her website, www.jennablum.com, and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, and New York Times Bestselling author of 21 books, including The Crossover, which received the 2015 John Newbery Medal for the Most Distinguished Contribution to American literature for Children, the Coretta Scott King Author Award Honor, The NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, and the Passaic Poetry Prize. Kwame writes for children of all ages. His other works include Surf's Up, a picture book; Booked, a middle grade novel; and He Said She Said, a YA novel. Kwame believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people through his PAGE TO STAGE Writing and Publishing Program released by Scholastic. A regular speaker at colleges and conferences in the U.S., he also travels the world planting seeds of literary love (Singapore, Brazil, Italy, France, Shanghai, etc.). Recently, Alexander led a delegation of 20 writers and activists to Ghana, where they delivered books, built a library, and provided literacy professional development to 300 teachers, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an International literacy program he co-founded.
