In the spring of 2020 when we were all scared and reeling from being told to shelter indoors for a global pandemic, I launched the Wildfire Writing Workshops as a way to foster community for the breast cancer community in an isolating time. Since then I've been holding space weekly for writers to connect with their stories, make sense of their experiences, and find community.
Writing like this has completely transformed my life - and the lives of hundreds! Thank you for being here with me.
WILDFIRE Magazine started in my spare bedroom. I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer at 35. Four years later I was struggling to put my life back together. Everyone had said my life would go back to normal, but that wasn't the case. I needed to see and understand how others were building a life after diagnosis.
So I started the first (and only) magazine for those of use diagnosed young(er) with breast cancer.
Today, WILDFIRE is a hub of life-changing storytelling. I publish the magazine every other month, but now we are also a podcast, and a transformational writing community.
Our writers are all diagnosed under the age of 50 - a growing population decades younger than average breast cancer fighter with few age-appropriate resources available.
My belief is... reading the stories of others diagnosed young provides a much-needed community and support network for today's young breast cancer survivor. We go further than that, though, and help you learn to tell your own story to the survivors coming up behind you. This has the dramatic effect of turning a traumatic cancer experience into an empowering one!
~ April Stearns, Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Recent supporters