Wordfest Presents Dr. Jen Gunter

Wordfest Presents Dr. Jen Gunter

SOLD OUT IN RECORD TIME! Click here to join the waitlist. (Thank you, Wordfesters, for your remarkable support. Please encourage your friends and family to sign up for our e-blast to make sure they're the first to hear about even more stellar authors coming to Calgary this year.)

Wordfest, alongside our presenting partner the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts, is thrilled to announce Dr. Jen Gunter's return to Calgary with her new book, Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation. The galvanizing conversation about women's health, hosted by journalist Christina Frangou, starts at 7PM MT and will be followed by a book signing, fuelled by Owl’s Nest Books.

The show takes place at Mount Royal University's Bella Concert Hall and includes assigned seating. Tickets on sale through MRU Box Office at 7AM MT on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. Student pricing is available, as it is important for Dr. Gunter that every generation be part of this vital conversation about women's health.

If you have a question for Dr. Gunter, please submit it in advance at this link. 

Ticket holders can also pre-order copies of Dr. Gunter’s books here for pick-up at the event.

We are grateful to Penguin Random House Canada for making it possible to connect you with Dr. Jen. Gunter.

About Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation

"When it comes to knowledge and busting ridiculous myths about our bodies, I religiously follow the WWJTAT approach. As in: What Would JEN Think About This. I never waiver from this, nor should you." –Samantha Bee

The new book from Dr. Jen Gunter, #1 bestselling author of The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto, dispels the shame, mythology, and misinformation around menstruation with scientific facts, medical expertise, and a fierce feminist perspective.

Most of us know about as much about how the uterus and ovaries function as we do about how the liver works. Add in societal shame around the menstrual cycle and it’s not surprising that misinformation is widespread. But, as women’s health advocate and trusted OB-GYN Dr. Jen Gunter writes, “you don’t have to think about your liver five days a month for 30 years, so I’d argue people should know more about the uterus." Enter Blood. 

In her new book, Dr. Gunter offers a clear, no-nonsense guide to reproductive anatomy and answers all the questions you never knew you had about menstrual bleeding – for example, where does the blood come from? And where does it go if you miss a period? Why do we even menstruate in the first place? With her expertise and trademark wit, Dr. Gunter debunks myths and challenges patriarchal attitudes toward this natural bodily process, shedding light on:

• The endometrium's fascinating connection to the immune system
• The brain-ovary connection
• Legitimate menstrual products, and the facts behind toxic shock syndrome
• Irregular, heavy, and breakthrough bleeding
• Period pain
• Endometriosis
• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
• Hormonal contraception, menstrual tracking, and FAM (fertility awareness methods)
• Abortion as menstrual management

And much more. Surprising, funny, and fact-filled, Blood is an essential and empowering resource from the doctor who "takes the mystery out of women’s health and replaces it with evidence-informed concrete recommendations." (Lori Brotto, Canada Research Chair in Women's Sexual Health)

About Dr. Jen Gunter

Dr. Jen Gunter is board certified in OB/GYN and pain medicine. She writes about the intersection of women's health, sex, science, and pop culture for the New York Times. She has been called a fierce advocate for women's health, Twitter's gynecologist, and "strangely confident" by GOOP.com. She believes an empowered patient requires facts and she is here to fix the medical Internet and smash the patriarchy. Visit her website at drjengunter and follow her on Threads @drjengunter.

About Host Christina Frangou

Christina Frangou is a Calgary journalist who writes about health and social issues. Her stories have appeared in The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Maclean's and The Guardian, among others, and cover topics like refugee health, domestic violence, loneliness and widowhood. Frangou has received a National Newspaper Award and multiple National Magazine Awards for feature writing. In 2022, she was awarded the Landsberg Award from the Canadian Women’s Foundation and Canadian Journalism Foundation for her work shedding light on gender injustice in Canada. Visit her website at christinafrangou.com and follow her on Threads @thatcmf.

Be Curiouser

• "Filled with piercing social analysis and enlightening science, this one’s a winner." –Publisher's Weekly

• "In my work on television I try to talk about my period as often as I can." –Lainey Gossip

•  "Do Periods Get Worse as You Age?" –Dr. Jen Gunter, New York Times