This is a call for women funeral industry professionals are interested in being involved with Shrouded: Women Who Work with the Dead, a book project.
Shrouded seeks to tell the story of the American female funeral director, trade embalmer, and mortician. This project began when I started writing about my sister, Lorene Murphy (of Ross Funeral Homes in Upstate New York), but I quickly realized that her story was just one of many that needed to be told.
Part industry history, part cultural history, and part personal stories, Shrouded seeks to be the definitive book for the female funeral professional.
The first chapter of the manuscript was a finalist for the 2012 Richard J. Margolis Award, an honor given to a promising new journalist or essayist whose work combines warmth, humor, wisdom and concern with social justice. Because of this honor, I believe that that the book project (once more developed) will attract attention from a publisher.
I am working on completing this book from Spring 2013 through Spring 2014. During the writing process, I plan on meeting up with women professionals on their turf and talk to them about their experiences, their thoughts, their bodies, and the future.
You can find out more about my research and writing here: http://unt.academia.edu/AprilMurphy
If you are interested in being a part of this project, please send an email with your name, location, and a brief personal introduction to AprilJMurphy@gmail.com. Please contact this email address with any questions you may have, as well.
Thank you,
April Murphy
(518) 651-6037
AprilJMurphy@gmail.com
