Preface

Throughout our lives, we write to make sense of the world around us.

Sometimes it’s love letters to friends in other cities. Sometimes it’s poetry in the early hours of the morning, urgent blog posts and social media updates to tell people what’s happening, journal entries of reflection and release.

Sometimes writing is uncompromising as it looks you in the eye, and sometimes the truth is subtle and sits between the lines.

But it’s always stories, because stories are where we find strength in times of despair. Stories move us to tears at the suffering of strangers. It’s with stories that we send children off to dream. If we want to know what’s happening around the world, we can turn on the news. But if we want to imagine a new one, we need to tell stories.

In short, stories are powerful.