CE The Covid Experience

A global collection of personal stories

The pandemic changed the world.
No two experiences were the same.

Babies were born quietly. Loved ones passed without a hand to hold. Children went to school through screens. Essential workers kept showing up. Relationships changed. Streets emptied. People adapted, struggled, laughed and grieved.

Share Your Story Learn About the Project

The project

A living record of an extraordinary time

The Covid Experience is a book project built from first-person stories from around the world. The goal is not to argue about the pandemic. It is to preserve what it felt like to experience it.

Stories may be joyful, heartbreaking, strange, ordinary, funny, angry, hopeful, or complicated. You do not need to be a professional writer. You only need to tell the truth as you remember it.

01

Home & family

Births, caregiving, relationships, isolation, routines, and life behind closed doors.

02

Work & money

Essential work, unemployment, remote work, business closures, stimulus checks, and survival.

03

Loss & resilience

Illness, grief, recovery, loneliness, unexpected strength, and the moments you still remember.

04

The strange new normal

Masks, empty cities, Zoom school, social distancing, shortages, rules, and surreal everyday moments.

Your story matters

Submit your Covid experience

Share as much or as little as you are comfortable sharing. You may choose how you would like to be identified if your story is selected.

Before you submit

Please do not include private information about another person that you do not have permission to share. You may change names or identifying details.

Submission does not guarantee publication. If your story is selected, it may be edited for clarity, length, grammar, or formatting while preserving its meaning.

How would you like to be identified if published?
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Publication Release

By checking the box below and submitting this form, I confirm that I am at least 18 years old and that the story I am submitting is my own original account or that I have the right to submit it.

I grant the creator, editor, publisher, successors, licensees, and assigns of The Covid Experience a non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free right to use, reproduce, edit, adapt, publish, distribute, display, promote, and create derivative editorial versions of my submitted story, in whole or in part, in print, digital, audio, promotional, archival, and other media connected with the project.

I understand that I retain ownership of my original story, that I will not receive compensation unless a separate written agreement says otherwise, and that submission does not guarantee publication. I represent that my submission does not knowingly violate another person's copyright, privacy, publicity, or other legal rights.

I understand that I may request withdrawal before publication by contacting the project, but once material has been published, distributed, printed, licensed, or incorporated into completed project materials, withdrawal may no longer be possible.

Please save a copy of your story for your own records before submitting.

Questions

Frequently asked

Do I have to use my real name in the book?

No. You may request your full name, first name only, a pseudonym, or anonymous publication.

Will every submission be published?

No. Submissions may be selected based on editorial fit, length, subject matter, and the needs of the finished collection.

Can my story be edited?

Yes. Selected stories may be edited for grammar, clarity, length, flow, privacy, or formatting while preserving the core meaning.

Will contributors be paid?

Not unless a separate written agreement specifically provides compensation.

Can I submit more than one story?

Yes. Submit each story separately so each one has its own release and submission record.