IF GOD IS A VIRUS
Seema Yasmin
Haymarket Books (April 6, 2021)
Hardcover • ISBN-13: 9781642594591 • US $16.00 • 6 in x 9 in • 80 pgs.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Merging documentary poetry from the epicenter of an epidemic with the story of viruses in the evolution of humanity, If God Is a Virus gives voice to the infected and the virus.
Based on original reporting from West Africa and the United States, and the poet’s experiences as a doctor and journalist, If God Is a Virus charts the course of the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in history, telling the stories of Ebola survivors, outbreak responders, journalists, and the virus itself. Documentary poems explore which human lives are valued, how editorial decisions are weighed, what role the aid-industrial complex plays in crises, and how medical myths and rumor can travel faster than microbes.
These poems also give voice to the virus. Eight percent of the human genome is inherited from viruses and the human placenta would not exist without a gene descended from a virus. If God Is a Virus reimagines viruses as givers of life and even authors of a viral- human self- help book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award- winning journalist, professor, medical doctor, and author of three books, including Muslim Women Are Everything. She teaches science journalism and global health storytelling at Stanford University, and is the director of the Stanford Health Communications Initiative. Her poetry has appeared in Foundry, The Literary Review, Ruminate, and Bateau, and in the anthology The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: Halal If You Hear Me. If God Is a Virus is her first book- length collection of poems
RIGHTS INFORMATION:
Please contact subagents for the following languages and territories:
| Language/Territory | Subagent |
|---|---|
| China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam | Big Apple Agency |
| Dutch | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| English outside North America | David Grossman Literary Agency |
| French | Deborah Druba Agency |
| German | Paul & Peter Fritz AG Literatur Agentur |
| Greek | Read n' Right Agency |
| Hebrew | The Deborah Harris Agency |
| Italian | The Nabu International Literary Agency |
| Japanese | The English Agency (Japan) Ltd |
| Korean | BC Agency, or Korea Copyright Center |
| Portuguese | RIFF Agency |
| Russia/Baltics/Eastern Europe | Prava I Prevodi |
| Scandinavia | Sebes & Bisseling Literary Agency |
| Spanish in Latin America | International Editors' Co., S.A. |
| Spanish in Spain | International Editors' Co., S.A. |
| Turkish | Anatolialit Agency |
For all other languages/territories, please contact Roam Agency.