Dear Sister: Letters from Survivors of Sexual Violence is a unique glimpse into the transformative power of survivors. Over fifty artists, activists, mothers, writers, and students offer their lessons, memories, and vision in the form of letters and essays for other survivors of rape. Many books about healing often posit an expert, a psychologist, or trauma specialist to expound the survivors’ experience to the rest of the world. This book celebrates and amplifies the survivors’ power and personal experience. The contributors are everyday people who survived extraordinary circumstances who now offer a letter to other survivors walking a similar path. From a professor in the Midwest, to a poet in Belgium, to an adult reflecting on her birth resulting from rape, to an escapee from a child prostitution ring, to an advocate in the Congo, to a sex worker in San Francisco, Dear Sister touches on the ever-spirited issues of feminism, love, disability, gender, justice, identity, and spirituality for survivors. This book shows the mosaic face of sexual violence and healing. Not one singular narrative can speak to all survivors, and these voices give testament to that diversity.
Dear Sister offers the most raw and convincing argument that survivors of sexual violence do not need to be saved by others; they are more than equipped to save themselves.
Publication and Distribution Information
The Dear Sister Anthology was published in January 2014 by AK Press. More information on their website can be found here.
CORRECTION: The first printing of Dear Sister contains an error: pages 54 – 58 should contain two pieces, a prose poem by Judith Stevenson, and a drawing by Joan Chen. Unfortunately the two pieces were conflated into one, and Joan’s image does not appear in the printed edition. This unfortunate mistake has been corrected in the ebook, and will be corrected in all subsequent printings of the book. The two pieces as they should have appeared are available here: Dear Sister Correction
The Dear Sister Anthology 