“Story is the vehicle we use to make sense of our lives in a world that often defies logic.” - Jim Trelease

The power of stories and storytelling has been understood since the beginning of recorded history. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. This experiment aims to investigate the emotive power of the written word by collating a series of ‘personal catastrophes’ submitted anonymously online.

If you have a moment, please fill in the questionnaire below and submit your short story for publication online as part of the ongoing documentation of this experiment.

DUE DATE: Ongoing

Story 1

When our local doctor told me my 5 weeks old son had eitheir a tentaus, or polio infection. to add to the shock his 13 months old brother who had been diagnosed as having a stone bruise on his foot, causing him to limp, also had polio

With much family support and keeping busy learning the skillls necessary to help the two little ones. massage, exercise and plenty of encouragement for them, kept me busy, with no time to feel sorry for myself