Fit Notes is a book of feminist stories, essays and poetry exploring the intersections of illness, bodies, gender and work. Coming in Spring 2025.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Illness is an unavoidable part of life, whether we live with chronic health conditions or are knocked by brief bouts of illness. In a society that prioritises our ability to take up and maintain paid work, it is inescapable that our bodies and our illnesses are intrinsically tied to work. We are measured by our capacity for work, an inability to engage in work-related activities renders us ineffectual as individuals whilst acts of labour outside of this traditional sense of work — the labour of care, domesticity, love, parenthood, craft — are devalued and discarded.

In Fit Notes, we aim to explore work beyond the scope of its traditional and constrictive conceptions and ask how work relates to the body, illness, and life.

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM:

Vida Adamczewski
Hattie Atkins
Maroula Blades
Cat Casey
Rebecca Coxon
Laura Elliott
Susanna Fasciolo
T. Laundy
Susan L. Lin
Laura Mehers
Katrina Millar
Kirstie Millar
Naomi Morris
Hatty Nestor
Keev Ó Baoill
Tomilola Olumide
Rosalind Reynolds-Grey
Steph Roberts
Carrie Sear
Laura Stanley
Elspeth Walker

Cover art by Cecilia Reeve

Edited by Ache: Katrina Millar, Rosalind Reynolds-Grey, Laura Mehers and Kirstie Millar

Publication date: Spring 2025
Paperback

PLEASE NOTE: Fit Notes is available for PRE-ORDER. After the publication date, all orders will be sent to UK customers via Royal Mail. Our small team aims to process and ship your order within 14 days of the book's publication date. We thank you for your patience.

INTERNATIONAL ORDERS: Due to the EU's new GSPR Product Safety Law, which came into force on December 13 2024, we are sadly unable to send our books to the EU and Northern Ireland. We will instead offer an e-book version of Fit Notes, along with our other publications - keep an eye on our online shop for details.