Welcome to the Circle: Announcing The Bird and the Baby 🕊️
The Bird and the Baby | Dispatch No. 1
There is a distinct kind of alchemy that happens when the heaviest, most haunting parts of human experience—trauma, addiction, and deep suffering—are transmuted into art.
For years, I have been privately wrestling with these realities on the page. Today, I am opening the doors to a dedicated workspace where those raw notes, essays, and creative breakthroughs can live out loud. Welcome to The Bird and the Baby.
This platform is born to anchor and support the writing of my upcoming autobiography, The Sovereign Seed. Written in a raw, Southern Gothic style, the book investigates how we survive childhood trauma, navigate the brutal terrain of active addiction and recovery, and map panentheism—the profound awareness of the divine intimately woven through all aspects of a fractured creation—onto a broken human life.
But a book like this cannot, and should not, be written in isolation. It needs a circle.
🕊️ The Story Behind the Name
In mid-20th century Oxford, a legendary group of writers, artists, and deep thinkers gathered routinely in the back room of a pub called The Eagle and Child. They drank, read their rough drafts aloud, debated theology, and sharpened each other’s spirits. They called themselves The Inklings. Among them were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
The Bird and the Baby is a direct nod to that pub, reimagined for those of us who have walked through hell and used art to pull ourselves out.
Those who choose to sit at our community table and financially champion this independent literary work are known as The Hatchlings—a modern continuation of that historic creative circle.
🎙️ Audio Networks: Coming Soon
Alongside regular written dispatches, The Bird and the Baby will soon launch two public, highly distinct audio podcast channels:
Pretty Stupid: A highly produced, curated interview show highlighting the voices of women who have overcome profound personal struggles, faced down systemic darkness, and found an enduring sense of spirituality through their creative work.
The InBetween Place: A raw, community-driven podcast where the microphone is handed directly to our audience to share their lived experiences and breakthroughs.
🧱 Finding Your Place at the Table
Whether you are here to quietly read along or actively participate, you have a place in this circle.
The Free Feed: By joining our general list, you will receive our public Southern Gothic essays, progress updates on The Sovereign Seed, and full access to our public podcast channels as soon as they launch.
The Hatchling Membership (Paid): If you want to step fully inside the circle, you unlock weekly discussion groups held in the spirit of the Inklings, full commenting rights, archive access, and exclusive eligibility to apply as a featured guest on The InBetween Place podcast to showcase your own artwork and journey.
The Sovereign Seed Patron (Founding Member): For ultimate champions who wish to fund the physical printing of the book. Patrons receive all Hatchling perks, behind-the-scenes character sketches, a physical signed copy of the book upon publication, your name in the print acknowledgments, and an exclusive merchandise item.
Art is how we survive the dark. The circle is how we carry the light.
If these themes speak to your own struggles, your recovery, or your creative spirit, I would be deeply honored to have you here.
With gratitude,
Stephanie Harrison