What is The Dark Side of Purity?
Well, I'll leave it to the Bards to explain it.
Band of Bards is proud to announce that we have teamed up with resident horror master
Bard Elyse Russell to bring to life a massive 2-book anthology titled THE DARK SIDE OF
PURITY.
Elyse has curated an incredible team of 34 writers, poets, and illustrators to give a
woman’s take on the traditional notions of purity, chastity, and virginity. Commonly known as Purity Culture, this tool of a patriarchal power structure is not often talked about in very direct terms. We see it as a sub-plot or as an ancillary theme in many works, but seldom is this the sole focus of a work.
The collection is composed of one book of prose & poetry that will be approximately 200 pages and include some black & white illustrations, and a graphic novel containing comics and graphic poetry of approximately 60 pages. This is a heavy topic and it deserves the best presentation possible. The cover art (below) by Heather Vaughan will span both books for a single unified image and a foreword by Sadie Hartmann will accompany the book of prose.
Elyse has been working on this project for nearly a year now. We’ve talked off and on
about it these past months and had thought this would be a good release in 2023. Given current events in America, we discussed accelerating that timeline and the creators agreed. Now is a time of action. While we may feel the pressure of a condensed pre-launch period, sometimes you do not get the luxury of acting only when ready, but having to answer a call to action.
This is Elyse’s work, this is the deafening scream of a group of creators demanding the
world pay attention. Band of Bards is grateful to have been asked to collaborate on THE DARK SIDE OF PURITY. For our part, we are helping to coordinate the funding, marketing, & fulfillment. This title may have our logo on it, but we are taking the backseat. This work is centered on the creators and their talented curator. They are at the forefront, BoB is here supporting this team bring a work they are passionate about to life.
We have a dedicated team, a devastatingly important work to bring into the public space,
and we have a cause. All profits from this work are being donated to NARAL Pro-Choice America. This was a decision we all made as a single team. With the attacks on reproductive rights in America at an all-time high, we felt it was critical to get this work made now, rather than later, and that it should bring a material impact to the fight in addition to the emotional and artistic impacts. To be clear, Kickstarter does not allow funds raised on their platform to be donated, so the campaign will be for production costs and any excess funds will go straight to the creators. The follow-on sales made by Band of Bards will be directly donated to NARAL.
We are bringing this project to Kickstarter on June 6 and running till July 8th, with the campaign concluding during a live BardCast. We chose Kickstarter because of the ability to showcase this anthology collection in both the prose publishing and comics categories. Also because many of the creators involved have their own followings on the platform.
The Dark Side of Purity: Creator List
Prose Writers:
Ai Jiang
Amanda Cecelia Lang
Abriana Tuller
Antonia Rachel Ward
J. S. Larmore
Kristin Cleaveland
Lyndsie Manusos
Cynthia McDonald
Zebib Abraham
Eli Hayden Loft
Robyn Singer
Sage Tyrtle
Miel MacRae
Poets:
Antonia Rachel Ward
K. R. Wieland
Jordan Alyssa Duncan
J. S. Larmore
Damon Barret Roe
Zebib Abraham
Comic Writers:
Lindz McLeod
Elyse Russell
Damon Barret Roe
Amy Chase
Artists:
Fell Hound
Heather Vaughan
Rio Burton
Miranda Leyson
Dany Rivera
Giulia Lalli
Amanda Stockton
Jenny Fleming
Mariateresa Susca
Now...who wants to see some Heather Vaughan covers?!
Band of Bards' The Dark Side of Purity Vol. 1 & 2 Covers by Heather Vaughan
What do you think, folks? Creepy? Amazing? Leave a comment below and tell us!