AFS Past President Elaine Lawless to Publish Debut Novel This Year

AFS Past President Elaine Lawless retired from academics in 2020 and moved to North Carolina to write fiction full-time. Her debut novel, Only Girls Bleed, is being published by Legend Times Publishing, London, UK, in 2026 (Kindle version release is June 18, 2026; Print version release is Sept 22, 2026; both are currently available online for preorder at most book outlets). Her novel, inspired and informed by her many years of ethnographic research on the lives and stories of women facing crises and discrimination, features the harrowing journey of a Missouri mother and her ten-year-old pregnant daughter seeking an open reproductive clinic following the Supreme Court decision that rescinded the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision and banned all abortions in the United States.

A Special Session at the 2026 AFS Annual Meeting in Asheville, N.C. is planned with Recent Past President Amy Skillman in conversation with Lawless about her book and their shared history serving as folklorists in Missouri. Only Girls Bleed will be available for purchase at AFS 2026 in Asheville.