the Fires We Lit: Illustrated Stories of Women Reimagining Rules

"The stories in glow with intelligence, humanity and exquisite metaphors."- Barb Howard, Winner of the Howard O'Hagan Award for Short StoryBefore we can change the world, we have to imagine one that does not yet exist.The Fires We Lit brings together twenty-five women whose lives and work span STEM and innovation. Moving between lived experience, fiction and fantasy, their stories explore what becomes possible when women trust what they know, claim their belonging and author what comes next.A scientist in a society without art discovers that movement is a forbidden language. A water engineer in a dystopian future risks everything to trust her instincts. A young girl steps through a fitting-room mirror to redefine beauty. A miner journeys deep within the earth to discover her true treasures. A shapeshifting rabbit outruns an ancient hunter to find her kin.Across workplaces and kitchens, myth and memory, science and magic, these stories cross the threshold between the world as it is and the world as it could be. They remind us that imagination is not an escape from reality. It is where new realities begin.Stories by: Najah Al-Atassi - Akanksha Anshu - Lina Bahlawan - Laleh Behjat Jane Desrochers - Maryann Deutscher - Dania El Chaar - Elena Esina Miriam Fabijan - Morgan Garnett - Monica Hernandez - Jasmine Kang Kelly Kaur - Geri Livell - Carrie McManus - Zoong Nguyễn Bukola Ojemakinde - Charlotte Anyango Ong'ang'a - Kinia Romanowska Humaira Salik - Navshina Bhojani Savory - Gayathri Shukla Puja Suri - AJ Vallis - Stephanie Vanvliet-WellsLed and edited by Gayathri Shukla - Illustrated by Cynthia Cabrera