awfully hilarious

In an intimate, courageous, and transformative collection, 26 girls and women of all ages share poems and stories exploring the ups and downs of menstruation, from first period to post-menopause.

The award-winning anthology awfully hilarious series returns with its second installment, period pieces, featuring that most ubiquitous "time of the month." These short pieces of prose and poetry illuminate our collective fascination, trepidation and shame around the biology of periods: from pre-pubescence and monthly cycles, to perimenopause, hot flashes, and menopause.

Told in cycles, awfully hilarious: period pieces explores menstruation through feminine (but not always female) archetypal milestones of the maiden, mother, and crone-and the many identities we embody in between.

In the Spring sections, the collection focuses on stories of first periods and youth on the cusp, as well as the follicular phase between flow and ovulation. Summer revels in ovulation, fertility (as well as birth control), and pregnancy. Fall represents menstruation's luteal phase, when many experience greater pain and distress, and finally, Winter takes readers to the very edge and end, with perimenopause and menopause.

Regardless of gender expression or experience, period pieces is for everyone: fervently and courageously sharing a human experience often forced to secrecy and solitude. In this stunning collection, readers can join the chorus: We've been there. We've got you.

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awfully hilarious is an anthology series of poems, short stories, and essays that tackle social taboos by talking openly about them. With great camaraderie and heart, contributors share the awkward and devastating stories that-with time and experience-become the badges of honour we share to affirm we are never truly alone in this world. Learn more at awfullyhilarious.com.