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Awfully Hilarious: Period Pieces
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.
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.
---
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.
- GenresNonfictionPoetryMedical
224 pages, Paperback
Published March 8, 2024
5 people are currently reading
3,700 people want to read
About the author
Heather Hendrie
4 books34 followersHeather Hendrie is a creative radical who’s spent years fumbling through life and figuring it out as she goes (not unlike the rest of us). She’s travelled the world on a shoestring and a whim, and spent far too many hours lying in bed alone (or on the toilet in the bar) swiping through to the end of the Tinder-verse.
Originally from Guelph, Ontario, Heather has lived in Cusco, Costa Rica, California, Colorado, and the Canadian Rockies before landing in her coastal British Columbia home. She’s got at least 13 jobs under her belt, from golf-course beverage cart sales, to in-flight air safety professional, touring film festival host, international bike tour guide and a starring role as Ms. Frizzell look-alike touring buses through landfills in Calgary, Alberta.
What she’s learned along the way (stumbling from one disaster to another) could fill a book (and so she has). Heather has also used these life experiences to become a clinical counsellor, and through that work and her humble, intimate writing style, she reaches out a hand to all the rest of us, as we all simply Bumble our way through, together.
This project was conceived by two of Heather’s best friends when they scooped her up to console her after a particularly bad date—to provide the same support to others, in literary form.
follow along with us @awfullyhilarious
Originally from Guelph, Ontario, Heather has lived in Cusco, Costa Rica, California, Colorado, and the Canadian Rockies before landing in her coastal British Columbia home. She’s got at least 13 jobs under her belt, from golf-course beverage cart sales, to in-flight air safety professional, touring film festival host, international bike tour guide and a starring role as Ms. Frizzell look-alike touring buses through landfills in Calgary, Alberta.
What she’s learned along the way (stumbling from one disaster to another) could fill a book (and so she has). Heather has also used these life experiences to become a clinical counsellor, and through that work and her humble, intimate writing style, she reaches out a hand to all the rest of us, as we all simply Bumble our way through, together.
This project was conceived by two of Heather’s best friends when they scooped her up to console her after a particularly bad date—to provide the same support to others, in literary form.
follow along with us @awfullyhilarious
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 18, 2024
If you loved Eve Ensler’s “Vagina Monologues” (which I did! Performed it on stage in 2017) then you’ll love this compilation of red, raw writings on the curse. At times funny, at times sweet, always honest and real, this is a lovely read for women of all ages, written by women of all ages. I was transported back to my feelings as a preteen, getting my first period and then moved through time into being a grown-ass woman and now, middle-aged and peri-menopausal. You’ll laugh, you’ll get teary, all the feels! 👍👍 Shout out to local NS writers included: Lindsay Harrington & Anne O’Connell!
March 19, 2024
Such an amazing book full of amazing stories!!
August 8, 2024
I didn't want to dislike this collection. Many of the stories in it are well-written, genuine discussions of the struggles and experiences of people who menstruate. The problem is, for a book that is about menstruation, the pieces within are nearly all from an abled cis woman perspective. The introduction at the beginning mentioning that they had hoped to include trans writers does make up for the fact that they ultimately didn't.
Far too many of the pieces, in their attempts to destigmatise periods, actively stigmatize birth control, which is a life-saving medical treatment for many people. More than one piece attempts to portray having a cycle completely unaffected by birth control as the healthiest option, completely ignoring the lived reality of millions of people with menstrual and uterine conditions, and stigmatizing a very valid medical option in favour of portraying periods as mystical and inherently good, as opposed to a complicated bodily function.
Portraying periods in this way doesn't actually destigmatise them, it just shifts who the stigma falls on, in this case people with uterine and menstrual conditions.
I did genuinely like some of the pieces, but the handful of pieces that glorified periods as inherently healthy were enough to drag the rating down even when juxtaposed with the pieces that did talk about unhealthy periods and the downsides. (The worst piece for me was a piece that simultaneously mythologized and glorified periods and magical and great while discussing parts that suck about having medical conditions).
The perspectives are relatively diverse culturally and racially but are distinctly lacking in trans experiences (y'all couldn't find even one transmasc to talk to? even one trans woman on hrt?) There are no trans experiences within the book and the fact that the summary implies otherwise felt deliberately deceptive and quite frankly insulting.
That said my favourite piece (and about the only piece I could relate to) was titled Auntie Rose and begins on page 121.
Far too many of the pieces, in their attempts to destigmatise periods, actively stigmatize birth control, which is a life-saving medical treatment for many people. More than one piece attempts to portray having a cycle completely unaffected by birth control as the healthiest option, completely ignoring the lived reality of millions of people with menstrual and uterine conditions, and stigmatizing a very valid medical option in favour of portraying periods as mystical and inherently good, as opposed to a complicated bodily function.
Portraying periods in this way doesn't actually destigmatise them, it just shifts who the stigma falls on, in this case people with uterine and menstrual conditions.
I did genuinely like some of the pieces, but the handful of pieces that glorified periods as inherently healthy were enough to drag the rating down even when juxtaposed with the pieces that did talk about unhealthy periods and the downsides. (The worst piece for me was a piece that simultaneously mythologized and glorified periods and magical and great while discussing parts that suck about having medical conditions).
The perspectives are relatively diverse culturally and racially but are distinctly lacking in trans experiences (y'all couldn't find even one transmasc to talk to? even one trans woman on hrt?) There are no trans experiences within the book and the fact that the summary implies otherwise felt deliberately deceptive and quite frankly insulting.
That said my favourite piece (and about the only piece I could relate to) was titled Auntie Rose and begins on page 121.
March 3, 2024
How refreshing to see the world beginning to speak about what was never discussed, and to our detriment, for much of my lifetime. I’m relieved to see these personal stories in print, and hope that my grandchildren will benefit by the breaking down of taboos around normal bodily functions.
April 19, 2024
I loved this book for many reasons. The stories shared are ones of silent struggle - but thankfully not anymore :) You might laugh, you might cry - and you’ll probably do both, but in a cathartic, you’re not alone kind of way.
July 14, 2024
Relatable period stories. Some fun, some emotional, some better than others. Easy to pick up and put down when you want something quickly engaging.
March 22, 2024
This installment felt much more serious to me, and I think that is the nature of the story content. These are the stories we shouldn’t feel ashamed to share. The ones where you have that particular feeling of relief of knowing you aren’t alone. You aren’t weird. You’re human. These are precious stories.
February 19, 2024
Beautiful & hilarious collection that destigmatizes menstruation!
January 18, 2024
Full of heart and laughter. Just what we all need.
October 31, 2024
Finally a book about periods that makes sense! This felt like a warm conversation between friends. Sharing each others experiences and traumas and laughing about what could be a really embarrassing situation.
So so great!
This is a must for all women and teens out there!
So so great!
This is a must for all women and teens out there!
December 28, 2023
Clearly I’m biased here as the person who has compiled these stories, but I cannot say enough good things about the creativity, courage, heart and humour of the writers who’ve shared their awfully hilarious menstruation and menopause moments here in this next instalment of a series born to tackle taboos.
I definitely laughed and cried as I read through the submissions, and expect you’ll do the same 💕
🌙✨🌕
I definitely laughed and cried as I read through the submissions, and expect you’ll do the same 💕
🌙✨🌕
December 7, 2024
LOVED It!! This book has earned a permanent spot on my nightstand.
This book is about ...."Ssssssshhhhh"....Periods. The most hushed about topic , and ironically the most significant part of a woman's body which forms the foundation of human life.
It is a blessing to be born as a woman. But there are a few days of every month, popularly known as "The Time of the Month" when every girl, every woman says this sentence in the most sarcastic and sadistic tone. The menstruating days. The Periods. and every period comes with its own twists and turns.
This is the second book by "Awfully Hilarious" which is a beautiful collection of essays, short stories, anecdotes , and poems handcrafted by 26 women, about their adventurous experiences around menstruation. About periods. Periods, the most natural and the most normal part of a woman's life but is always dealt with secrecy and solitude. Every girl, every woman has so many stories to tell about periods. And menstruation is this necessary evil that has a lot to offer at all stages, From early onset of puberty to menopause, from wings on the pads to Diva Cups. From mood swings to period cramps. From stained white shorts to making excuses on why you cant go swimming, And unfortunately, society has never encouraged any one to talk openly about it and this topic is always discussed in hushed tones. I bet there are more than 100 slang terms that have been used so no one has to say this actual word. Aunt Flo, Code Red, Crimson Wave, Lady Business, Moon Time and many more.
This book, "Period Pieces", breaks through the cloud of silence and stigma around menstruation. The stories from writers all around the world will not only make you laugh but also encourage you to embrace this topic and discuss this openly as openly you discuss the last movie you watched and what your neighbor wore yesterday . Written by writers from diverse communities and cultures, and a wider age group (the youngest writer is 13 years old) every segment of this book offers a different and interesting experience. Crowned with catchy titles, every chapter, every anecdote is unique and has something new to offer .You get to learn Grandma's tales on superstitions around periods, myths around periods, awkward moments around stains. Some stories are dealt with light hearted humor while some do talk about the excruciating struggles of women facing PMDD and PMS, which are serious conditions that need to be talked about and one needs to spread awareness around them.
So, WAIT NO MORE!! Pick up this book, get ready to have a bloody good time as you dive into the world of period stories!
This book is every woman's best friend. Its the kind of book that you should always keep at your bedside on your Nightstand, and every time, you feel you are alone and there is no one to talk about those deadly cramps, the storm of emotions you are going through or the mammoth of blood flow you are experiencing, just open this book to any random page and this book will comfort you like a friend comforts when she hugs you.
This book is about ...."Ssssssshhhhh"....Periods. The most hushed about topic , and ironically the most significant part of a woman's body which forms the foundation of human life.
It is a blessing to be born as a woman. But there are a few days of every month, popularly known as "The Time of the Month" when every girl, every woman says this sentence in the most sarcastic and sadistic tone. The menstruating days. The Periods. and every period comes with its own twists and turns.
This is the second book by "Awfully Hilarious" which is a beautiful collection of essays, short stories, anecdotes , and poems handcrafted by 26 women, about their adventurous experiences around menstruation. About periods. Periods, the most natural and the most normal part of a woman's life but is always dealt with secrecy and solitude. Every girl, every woman has so many stories to tell about periods. And menstruation is this necessary evil that has a lot to offer at all stages, From early onset of puberty to menopause, from wings on the pads to Diva Cups. From mood swings to period cramps. From stained white shorts to making excuses on why you cant go swimming, And unfortunately, society has never encouraged any one to talk openly about it and this topic is always discussed in hushed tones. I bet there are more than 100 slang terms that have been used so no one has to say this actual word. Aunt Flo, Code Red, Crimson Wave, Lady Business, Moon Time and many more.
This book, "Period Pieces", breaks through the cloud of silence and stigma around menstruation. The stories from writers all around the world will not only make you laugh but also encourage you to embrace this topic and discuss this openly as openly you discuss the last movie you watched and what your neighbor wore yesterday . Written by writers from diverse communities and cultures, and a wider age group (the youngest writer is 13 years old) every segment of this book offers a different and interesting experience. Crowned with catchy titles, every chapter, every anecdote is unique and has something new to offer .You get to learn Grandma's tales on superstitions around periods, myths around periods, awkward moments around stains. Some stories are dealt with light hearted humor while some do talk about the excruciating struggles of women facing PMDD and PMS, which are serious conditions that need to be talked about and one needs to spread awareness around them.
So, WAIT NO MORE!! Pick up this book, get ready to have a bloody good time as you dive into the world of period stories!
This book is every woman's best friend. Its the kind of book that you should always keep at your bedside on your Nightstand, and every time, you feel you are alone and there is no one to talk about those deadly cramps, the storm of emotions you are going through or the mammoth of blood flow you are experiencing, just open this book to any random page and this book will comfort you like a friend comforts when she hugs you.
January 23, 2024
I had the very good fortune to get an early read of this follow-up to the award-winning* collection Awfully Hilarious: Stories We Never Tell (2023). Hendrie has compiled a magical mix of unique stories and diverse perspectives about periods, and all the experiences around this fundamental experience that occupies so much of one's life.
This book, like its predecessors, captures the feeling of sitting alongside a good friend to hear, and be heard, of sharing the stories that we don't always share out loud - the funny, vulnerable, messy, complicated, and very human stories of life. Tracing the seasons and cycles of women's lives and the transitions in our own bodies and experiences, "period pieces" is a wonderful reminder that we are not alone in these rollercoaster experiences.
I am always a fan of books that attempt to wrestle with taboo subjects, to normalize them, to remind us that many of the things around which we feel shame, embarrassment, even hurt, are normal and collective.
(*Awfully Hilarious: Stories We Never Tell won the 2023 Canadian Book Club Award in the anthology category.)
This book, like its predecessors, captures the feeling of sitting alongside a good friend to hear, and be heard, of sharing the stories that we don't always share out loud - the funny, vulnerable, messy, complicated, and very human stories of life. Tracing the seasons and cycles of women's lives and the transitions in our own bodies and experiences, "period pieces" is a wonderful reminder that we are not alone in these rollercoaster experiences.
I am always a fan of books that attempt to wrestle with taboo subjects, to normalize them, to remind us that many of the things around which we feel shame, embarrassment, even hurt, are normal and collective.
(*Awfully Hilarious: Stories We Never Tell won the 2023 Canadian Book Club Award in the anthology category.)
March 25, 2024
Loved Heather's first book and this one delivers the same caliber of *awfully hilarious* stories that make you feel less alone on your ever evolving experience of being a woman and all that entails. Giving a voice to the secret life of womanhood, Heather et all bring lightheartedness and empowerment to an often taboo subject of women's health and menstruation.
December 15, 2024
Period Pieces honors the cyclical journey from the onset of menses to menopause—full of heart and humor! The many voices that make up this collection are genuine, honest, and create a powerful conversation that is long overdue. THANK YOU for creating a work that honors the life-giving and challenging journey of women's monthly cycles! It is a must-read and a wonderful gift!
July 18, 2024
Finally something that brings to light something that so many of us have spent years avoiding talking about. Vulnerable, witty, completely real, and as mentioned, hilarious! I wish this had been around decades ago when I was growing up. Totally recommend!
March 26, 2024
A must-read. This is now the book I'm buying for every woman in my life for Christmas. I felt so seen while reading this book and also learned so much about what life is like for my fellow women.
June 29, 2024
A great book filled with stories reminding you that your not alone as a female!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews