Additional information
by Seema Yasmin (Author)
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.
Author Biography
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, Halal If You Hear Me. If God Is A Virus is her first book-length collection of poems.
