If you’d like to be included in this slot, please get in touch: estherchilton@gmail.com. Poems can be up to 60 lines and prose 2000 words. If you’d like to add a short bio and photo, then great. All I ask is that there’s nothing offensive.
Many of you will know my special guest this week – it’s Yvette Prior from Priorhouse Blog. She has compiled a wonderful anthology, featuring many names you’ll be familiar with. So it’s over to Yvette:
Hi Esther,
Thanks so much for the guest spot to share about This is How we Work: Stories, Memoirs & Poems about the Social Dimensions of Work
In this anthology, 13 authors share different experiences about work. Readers will encounter themes of technology, values, responsibility, problem-solving, and even a touch of the supernatural with asylum ghosts and a sci-fi story. The closing summary chapter ties it all together, highlighting key themes that deepen the conversation about the social layers of work.The authors reflect on challenges, triumphs, and transformations, while exploring roles like teaching, caregiving, writing, cycling, leading, presenting, and the pursuit of aligning work with identity.
We will be having a Book Promotion in November: A free Kindle download is scheduled for November 7 and 8, 2025. We are also asking that if anyone downloads the book, could you please leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads.
One of my favorite parts of curating this book was beginning inductively, with only a broad sense of content as I asked authors to share about the social dimensions of work. I wanted to see what would emerge organically, and the result came together with a flow and coherence that far surpassed my expectations. We ended up with six memoir chapters, four fiction chapters, and four poetry chapters, followed by a summary chapter and an afterword that explores the themes in greater depth. The collection offers the reader options and each chapter stands on its own while also contributing to the larger, interconnected theme of social layers at work.
About the book – from the introduction:
In This is How We Work, the chapters explore not just what people do, but how they feel about their work. We examine how humans respond to job roles, advancement, change, and other factors within working life. We explore how jobs stay with us and how stepping up and staying responsible can be deeply rewarding. An aim of this book is to use stories, memoirs, and poetry to entertain and connect, while also providing material to develop more accurate self-awareness and possibly bring more depth to our own work. Recognizing the social dimensions of work means understanding that work is never just about tasks or productivity. The work that we do, paid or unpaid, is also about the relationships, power structures, cultural expectations, and unspoken social layers that shape us. The chapters in this book have been curated to help us better understand our work, roles, and the meaning we find in our jobs. Work is not just something we do; it is a reflection of our values and who we believe we need to be. We hope you enjoy this book.
This book was partly inspired by the author Tarthang Tulku, who shared this:
“Work is not something to quickly get away from; instead, work for a human being is an important part of living a fulfilled life.”
“Every kind of work can be a pleasure. Even simple household tasks can be an opportunity to exercise and expand our caring, our effectiveness, our responsiveness. As we respond with caring and vision to all work, we develop our capacity to respond fully to all of life. Every action generates positive energy which can be shared with others.”
~Tarthang Tulku, Skillful Means: Patterns for Success
Links for the book:
- Amazon & Kindle here
- Goodreads here
- Priorhouse Blog here
Esther Chilton 
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