Kara Stanley is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, a lyricist, and a movement teacher. Simon Paradis is a musician who has been playing in blues, rock, and roots bands across Canada for 30 years. A serious fall in 2008 resulted in life-altering injuries, but after a long rehabilitation process, he has returned to music again. Together, this couple has collaborated on Kara’s 2015 memoir Fallen, which was longlisted for the BC Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, and on Simon’s CD’s Good Road Home (2013); Mouthful of Stars (2015); and Grooves and Ruts (2019).
Their latest collaboration is The Pain Project: A Couple’s Story of Confronting Chronic Pain, a wide-ranging exploration of the definitions, treatments, science, myths, and meanings of the mysterious and multi-faceted force that is pain. Author Susan Orlean describes the book as “…a beautiful, humane, thoughtful inquiry into the challenge of living with chronic pain and how Stanley and Paradis navigate its impact on their lives. This is a tough subject but a joyful book; it takes on a daunting topic with heart and humor and determination. It’s wonderful.”
