Corona Times: Words from the Pandemic

By Yacoob Manjoo, Saaleha Idrees Bamjee, Iain S. Thomas and 11 more

The Coronavirus has plunged humanity into global turmoil not seen in modern history. The virus will pass, though, and these days will eventually fade from memory. But what will be recorded of this time? Infection statistics, death tolls, and economic and political happenings will no doubt be written into history. But this period has been so much more. So much more that must be preserved and appreciated – both for ourselves and our future generations.

 

Corona Times: Words from the Pandemic aims to document a slice of this living reality, capturing the thoughts of a range of writers during the pandemic's early months. The collection features contributions from prominent South African writers Iain S. Thomas, Saaleha Idrees Bamjee, and Shubnum Khan, along with poems and reflections from writers based elsewhere – including Kitty O'Meara, whose "And the People Stayed Home…" touched so many lives early in the pandemic.

 

From bewilderment, sadness, and loss of life, to hope, positive change, and appreciation of the little things, this collection hopes to provide readers with comfort and perspective amid the chaos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yacoob Manjoo
• Release date: Oct 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9780620895026

Yacoob Manjoo

Yacoob Manjoo is a South African writer, blogger, husband, and father of two. Writing is his passion, and he's shared his work over many years via his blog. He works in the communications field, but has also written articles and produced content for various Islamic publications – including Productive Muslim, AboutIslam.net, and AccidentalMuslims.com.

Book preview

Foreword

If there’s one thing that the Coronavirus pandemic has shown us, it’s that we – as humanity – are one. One species. On one planet. Living through the same global experience. The same anxieties about our world collapsing. The same fears about whether we will survive. And if we do, what our lives will be like afterwards.

Very few of us have lived through such a far-reaching event. In the long absence of World Wars and major pandemics, we felt relatively safe. Sure, there were always tragedies – wars and genocides, droughts and famines, small scale outbreaks of diseases – but nothing… nothing … on this scale. Nothing that touched the lives of every single human on the planet, at the same time.

And as the reality dawned upon us – country after country seeing rising numbers of infection, and lockdowns coming into effect one by one – we had to adjust to a new reality. A new normal. An acceptance that this virus – this global state of affairs – was serious, and we – as individuals, and even organised groups – could do nothing to change it. We could not eliminate the threat. Neither the most advanced military weapons, nor the combined genius of our greatest minds, could stop the plague that came upon us. There would be no quick fix. No easy way out. We were in this for the long haul.

The collection before you captures the thoughts of individuals from around the world during the early months of the pandemic. It reflects the bewilderment at the strange circumstances thrust upon us, the sadness of losing the way of life we took for granted, and the challenges of our strange new world under lockdown. But it also captures the immense hope and positivity gifted to us: the embracing of this episode as a means of necessary and positive change, and a means by which to better appreciate the little things we previously glossed over, in lives that were distracted by things we gave too much importance to.

In assembling this collection, we hope to provide you with some perspective amid the chaos. We hope that you will find some comfort in these words. And, ultimately, we hope that you will leave this collection with a renewed sense of promise: a confidence that, despite the struggles, and the monumental shifts in your own circumstances and the world at large, everything is going to be OK.

Because…we are One.

Yacoob Manjoo (Contributing Editor)

August 2020

Lost in History

When we become History,

what will be remembered?

Because we'll surely soon be

what were once old faces in textbooks,

swimming with inaccessible stories

and un-relatable struggles;

teeming with moments untouched,

leaving legacies we still stomach:

skimmed surfaces of antiquity

without a mouth to speak;

moments that