THRIVING, August / September 2026 (Vol 11, No. 4)
For this new Wildfire theme, we asked our writers to tell their stories about what thriving looks like from where they stand right now. The rituals that anchor them. The relationships that deepened or broke. The work they returned to, left behind, or invented from scratch. The body they've learned to inhabit, negotiate with, or simply show up in. The moments—however brief—when they felt not just okay, but genuinely here.
Within this issue, you will find 19 writers representing these diagnosis details:
- Diagnosis ages: 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s
- Breast cancer types: DCIS, IDC, ILC, and Inflammatory
- Initial Stages: 0 - IV
- Receptors: ER/PR+, HER2+, TNBC, and Triple Positive
- Single & multiple diagnoses
Contributors:
Guest Editor MJ DeCoteau, Founder of Rethink Breast Cancer
Cover Star Mia Purdy, photo by Danielle Arnold
The Nail Salon by Lydia Amaral | Leaving the Waiting Room by Diandra Denier-Fields | My Messy Life by Jessica Doig | Aoife Glavin is Thriving by Aoife Glavin | Crossing the Bridge by Carolyn Herbst | At the Rail by Lauren Izzo | Emergency Contact by Claire Lemiski | It’s Up to Me Now. by Lauren Lopriore | You Are Here by Meghan McCallum | Later is a Dangerous Place by Alexa Meyer | Daniel Tiger and Cancerland by Erin Perkins | The Medicinal Properties of Dirt by Nina Poletti | Reclaiming the Canvas by Mia Purdy | The Golden Milestone by Mara Ramirez | The Tracks of my Tears by Kate Rowbotham | Bedtime Stories and Scan Reports by Janelle Slavik | Still Standing by Alison Beder Solway | Here Today by Lauren Blue Tucker | The Gift of Noticing by Naomi Zittell | Motherless Daughters by MJ DeCoteau
THRIVING, August / September 2026 (Vol 11, No. 4)
For this new Wildfire theme, we asked our writers to tell their stories about what thriving looks like from where they stand right now. The rituals that anchor them. The relationships that deepened or broke. The work they returned to, left behind, or invented from scratch. The body they've learned to inhabit, negotiate with, or simply show up in. The moments—however brief—when they felt not just okay, but genuinely here.
Within this issue, you will find 19 writers representing these diagnosis details:
- Diagnosis ages: 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s
- Breast cancer types: DCIS, IDC, ILC, and Inflammatory
- Initial Stages: 0 - IV
- Receptors: ER/PR+, HER2+, TNBC, and Triple Positive
- Single & multiple diagnoses
Contributors:
Guest Editor MJ DeCoteau, Founder of Rethink Breast Cancer
Cover Star Mia Purdy, photo by Danielle Arnold
The Nail Salon by Lydia Amaral | Leaving the Waiting Room by Diandra Denier-Fields | My Messy Life by Jessica Doig | Aoife Glavin is Thriving by Aoife Glavin | Crossing the Bridge by Carolyn Herbst | At the Rail by Lauren Izzo | Emergency Contact by Claire Lemiski | It’s Up to Me Now. by Lauren Lopriore | You Are Here by Meghan McCallum | Later is a Dangerous Place by Alexa Meyer | Daniel Tiger and Cancerland by Erin Perkins | The Medicinal Properties of Dirt by Nina Poletti | Reclaiming the Canvas by Mia Purdy | The Golden Milestone by Mara Ramirez | The Tracks of my Tears by Kate Rowbotham | Bedtime Stories and Scan Reports by Janelle Slavik | Still Standing by Alison Beder Solway | Here Today by Lauren Blue Tucker | The Gift of Noticing by Naomi Zittell | Motherless Daughters by MJ DeCoteau
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