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Take Us To A Better Place

Challenge

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest philanthropy dedicated solely to health, approached us with a desire to create a book that would spark new conversations about what a “Culture of Health” might look like in the future—one in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity for health and well-being.

Solution

We created an anthology of compelling and expertly crafted short stories, using the power of fiction to explore the realities of health and generate new thinking around what a healthy, equitable future might look like. .

The book is a work of art. (LACE,no person, paper, indoors, wood, business, travel, motley, retro, summer, college, traditional, outdoors, arts and crafts, stripe, family, education, literature, vertical, kind, writing)
Digital art selected for the #. (As the nation

A TALENTED TEAM OF LITERARY CONTRIBUTORS

We conducted extensive outreach to identify a diverse group of ten authors who would contribute to Take Us to a Better Place. They include such award-winning writers as Martha Wells, Hannah Lillith Assadi, Yoon Ha Lee, Frank Bill, and Karen Lord, among others. We worked closely with each of them, along with the team at RWJF, to see their stories through from ideation to completion. The collection ultimately explores a broad range of health and societal issues—from immigration and climate change to cultural identity and family connection.

We also tapped renowned author and cultural critic Roxane Gay to pen the book’s foreword, and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Pam Belluck to contribute an introduction.

The first page of the book. (CONTENTS 164 OBSOLESCENCE MARTHA WELLS FOREWORD 196 ROXANE GAY VIRAL CONTENT 10 MADELINE ASHBY INTRODUCTION PAM BELLUCK 226 18 BRIEF EXERCISESIN MINDFULNESS CALVIN BAKER THE FLOTILLA AT BIRDISLAND MIKE MeCLELLAND 250 54 THE PLAGUE DOCTORS KARENLORD PARADISE HANNAH LILLITH ASSADI 280 82 THE MASCULINE AND THE DEAD FRANK BILL THE ERASURE GAME YOON HA LEE 322 116 AFTERWORD MICHAELW.PAINTER AND JODY STRUVE THE SWEET SPOT ACHY OBEJAS 326 140 ABOUT THE AUTHORS RECLAMATION DAVID A.ROBERTSON ILLUSTRATED Y SELENA GOULDING,no person, stripe, navigation, retro, facts, paper, business, travel, contemporary, chalk, trip (journey), wood, time, recreation, rhythm, template, origami, information, writing, layout)
The art of person, by person. (etal to dirt, over,paper, no person, business, creativity, note, musical composition, research, wood, graphic design, print, statistics, education, document, graph, conceptual, spherical, solar energy, diagram, travel, growth)

STUNNING ILLUSTRATIONS

In order to give the collection an added visual element, we approached ten artists from around the world to create accompanying illustrations for the stories. Each of them collaborated closely with the author they were paired with to understand their stories and bring them to life visually.

Digital art selected for the #. (retro, no person, creativity, summer, contemporary, travel, woman, outdoors, urban, graphic design, paper, leisure, downtown, nature, trip (journey), shopping, relaxation, artistic, luxury, business)

PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL RELEASES

We produced Take Us to a Better Place as both a digital ebook, which the Foundation made available free for readers, and a beautiful physical tome that they distributed to their employees.

Digital art selected for the #. (TAKE US TOABETTER PLACE TAKE US STORIES TOABETTER PLACE STORIES TAKE US TOABETTER PLACE STORIES,portable, touch, screen, internet, electronics, nature, no person, isolated, spherical, pill, travel, technology, wireless, display, illustration, paper, contemporary, trip (journey), design, telephone)
The first page of the book. (L IWA AG SAD. YOU I

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Take Us to a Better Place received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and Karen Lord’s story, “The Plague Doctors” was chosen for inclusion in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021.

Cover art for the issue of magazine. (STORY 9 THEPLAGUE DOCTORS KARENLORD ILLUSTRATIONS BY NIV BAVARSKY,graphic design, no person, retro, man, fun, illustration, creativity, artistic, people, isolated, art, woman, eye, paper, funny, cute, futuristic, young, fashion, design)

VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB

To help spark discussion around the stories, we produced an online Conversation Guide to the stories that readers could download. But because Take Us to a Better Place was released at the start of the COVID pandemic, organizing in-person book club discussions wasn’t possible. So instead, we invited 25 members of the FoST community to participate in a virtual book club over Zoom featuring two of the collection’s authors, Karen Lord and Yoon Ha Lee. The discussion focused on how we could emerge from the crisis in a way that would be healthier and more resilient for all.

The human body is made up of cells. (the station running eadcount
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