Brandon University is proud to celebrate the publication of Embodied Narratives in the Health Humanities and Literary Studies, a major new scholarly volume co-edited by Dr. Eftihia Mihelakis, Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies.
Published by The University of Toronto Press (2025), the book explores how narrative, language, and embodied experience intersect across illness, health, and care. Bringing together an international group of 14 contributors, the volume examines topics ranging from neuroscience and narrative, to queer health, decolonial community care practices, dance, and patient-led innovation. The work highlights how literary studies deeply inform our understanding of health and illness, and how embodied storytelling can promote empathy, equity, and the reshaping of healthcare experiences.
"Dr. Mihelakis's work demonstrates the extraordinary impact that the humanities can have in the health sphere," said Dr. Bernadette Ardelli, Vice-President (Research & Graduate Studies). "At Brandon University, we are seeing more research that bridges disciplines, expands traditional boundaries, and moves us toward a more holistic understanding of health and well-being. This book is a milestone contribution not just to literary studies, but to the broader field of health humanities."
"This publication is a powerful example of what humanities scholarship can do," added Dr. Gregory Kennedy, Dean of Arts. "By placing literature, embodiment, and health in conversation, Dr. Mihelakis and her collaborators challenge us to see care, community, and knowledge in new ways. It is exactly the kind of bold, interdisciplinary work that the Faculty of Arts is proud to support."
Reflecting on the book's release, Dr. Eftihia Mihelakis emphasized the importance of expanding how we understand and talk about health. "Our goal was to show how lived experience, the body, and the arts are inseparable from how we make sense of illness and care. The contributors to this volume remind us that narratives, whether literary, visual, or movement-based, shape our understanding of health in powerful ways. I am grateful to Brandon University for supporting research that embraces creativity, complexity, and collaboration."
Co-edited with Dr. Lucille Toth (Ohio State University-Newark), Embodied Narratives emphasizes collaboration between theory and creative practice, and invites readers to consider how stories, bodies, and cultural contexts shape experiences of illness and healing. Chapters explore embodied cognition, the therapeutic potential of first-person narrative, the aesthetics of pandemics, intersectional psychotherapy, queer temporalities, and artistic practices such as dance, graphic medicine, and artists' books.
Dr. Mihelakis's ongoing research in research-creation, translingual health humanities, and narratives of illness has been supported by SSHRC through an Insight Development Grant. Her work continues to position Brandon University as a hub for innovative humanities research that connects scholarship, creativity, and public impact.
Embodied Narratives in the Health Humanities and Literary Studies is available through University of Toronto Press:
