About the Project
We are gathering stories from Siblings who have or are experiencing loss and grief—through estrangement, disconnection, distance, or death—for a collection built on remembrance, reverence, and care. These submissions of creative nonfiction will result in a collaborative anthology for Siblings, from Siblings: a space to be seen, heard, and held.
Sibling grief is a shared experience, not just a private wound, yet it remains one of the least spoken, least held forms of loss. This anthology aims to bring those stories forward as part of our collective memory, offering Siblings a living archive that transcends the label of forgotten mourners. Here, the love and longing that remain have a place to exist, in community and company alongside other Siblings and their stories.
We are especially attentive to the harmful impacts of police violence; disability-related inequities in resources, access, and support; foster care; incarceration; institutionalization; addiction; disappearance; and deportation. These are not only private griefs—they are systemic and cultural wounds, and they deserve to be named as such. When held with care, communities can co-create new ways of being, remembering, and healing. Community storytelling nourishes momentum for collective healing and social change.
In the legacy of cultural caretaking, this anthology is grounded in the belief that Sibling culture is abundant and our stories deserve a seat at the grief table, too. Whether your grief is from yesterday or years ago, raw or historical, loud or quiet, ambiguous or disenfranchised, we are still here, no matter how unreachable our Siblings are.
Our Why For the Project
In Summer 2025, we completed The Hearth’s Community of Storytelling certificate training. As we sat in a circle with 40 other storytellers-in-training, our first exercise was to bring a sacred object and share the longing connected to it. Although we traveled to the training together, we kept our objects a secret until the introductions.
In that moment, we realized we had both instinctively brought sacred items belonging to our siblings, and our shared longing was rooted in the profound complexities of sibling grief and love. This anthology is our Community Storytelling Project, but more importantly, our soul work, our way of sharing stories that deserve to be honored.
We recognize that sibling grief is often overshadowed by narratives that prioritize parents, partners, or children. This silence creates a void of isolation and invisibility in a culture that frequently overlooks the emotional needs of those navigating ambiguous and disenfranchised loss. We believe storytelling in community is a salve for what cannot be fixed—now, or perhaps ever. It invites memory and imagination to sit side by side, opening doors where loss so often feels like a wall. This anthology is our way of ensuring that sibling stories finally have a seat at the table.
How We Are Growing This Project Together
This anthology is rooted in the belief that our stories are more powerful when supported by the collective. To reach our intended honorarium goal of $50 per contributor and cover production costs, we are actively engaging with the community in the following ways:
- This GoFundMe campaign invites friends, family, and supporters of the arts to invest directly in the voices of siblings.
- We are building community partnerships by sharing our Call for Submissions through dedicated sibling and grief-centered networks, including the Sibling Leadership Network, SibNet, and community spaces like The Grief House, Our House, Compassionate Friends, The Hearth, Black Lives Matter, and more.
- To broaden our reach and share the "why" behind this project, we are pitching interview inquiries and features to storytelling platforms such as the audio magazine Signal Hill and The Portals Podcast (hosted by The Grief House).
By leaning on these respective communities, we aim to not only fund this project but to ensure these stories reach the hands and hearts of those who need them most.
How We Will Honor Our Sibling Storytellers
- Professional publication in the anthology, featuring your contributor bio and photo
- A complimentary author copy
- An intended $50 honorarium per accepted piece
- Featured spotlights across social media platforms
- An invitation to join the virtual book launch to celebrate the anthology’s release together
About the Editors of the Anthology
Krystle May Statler (she/her) is a Black-multiracial interdisciplinary artist, designer, and poet living in Portland, OR. She’s the author of Prayer for Relief (2024), a poetry collection that attempts to make sense of the nonsensical in the aftermath of the loss of her older brother, BJ, by the hands of the Inglewood Police Department in 2019. In addition to grief impacted by police violence, Krystle’s life and work are shaped by estrangement and distance. Through these lived experiences, she seeks to create spaces where all forms of loss can be heard, held, and honored. More of her work can be found here.
Grace Stopher (she/her) is a writer, artist, designer, gardener, and Sib. Through art and community storytelling, she explores what it means to grow up alongside siblings impacted by I/DD, Autism, foster care, and adoption — and the ways loving a sibling shapes who you become. The complexity of human experience is a through-line of her work. Grace lives in Portland, OR. Learn more about Grace here.
✨THIS is our heart- and soulwork✨
❤️ With gratitude and care,
Krystle May Statler & Grace Stopher
➡️ To read the full project vision and the Call for Submissions.