Parenthood is full of secrets. The pregnant body, labor, the mysteries of a new child, the transformation of relationships—men and women are themselves reborn as they become parents. Birth: A Literary Companion collects the work of fifty accomplished writers to guide new parents through this complex emotional terrain.

 “In this vibrant literary collection of short essays and poems, sacred hushes fill in pregnant days, women anguish at night, parents travel through the dissonance that occurs when the raw invasion of life head-butts doting smiles, the veneer of parenting joy. . . . There is terror, here, and pain, along with transcendence and beauy, and it's all gorgeously written. Birth shares the intimacies of this passage, a collage of the beauty and beastliness of parenting . . . it is a much-needed addition to shelves of parenting books that teach nursing methods and exalt birth, a la Hallmark, without delving into the alarm, tender glories, and transformations it brings.”—Foreword

 “. . . In a splendid new anthology, Kristin Kovacic and Lynne Barrett identify a genre they call 'birth literature.' They deliver an imaginative guidebook—a spiritual Baedeker—to the daunting country of parenthood.”—Edward Hirsch, Washington Post Bookworld