A first-of-its-kind literary anthology of works written by survivors of sexual abuse, edited by Randolph’s Marjorie Ryerson, will have its official “launch” next Wednesday at the University of Vermont.

“The Journey of Healing: Wisdom from Survivors of Sexual Abuse: A Literary Anthology” contains poems, essays, and stories from around the world. It is a publication of the Brandon-based Safer Society Press, where Ryerson works as editorial director.

“It has been an extraordinary honor to do this book,” Ryerson said this week.

Ryerson, who sorted through hundreds of submissions before selecting the 56 pieces that comprise the book, said that several contributors will attend next Wednesday’s event, and read their works.

“Safer Society has, for the past 40 years, primarily focused on lessening the amount of sexual abuse in the world by treating offenders,” Ryerson explained.

Most of the books published by the Safer Society Press have been workbooks that therapists and institutions use in treatment programs for offenders.

Ryerson, a photographer, author, and editor, started working at the non-profit press part-time a few years ago. She broached the foundation’s board early last year with her idea of publishing an anthology by victims of abuse.

The board was intrigued, she said. The concept was also enthusiastically supported by educators and therapists, who saw the potential value in classrooms and counseling work.

One year ago, Ryerson put out a modest call for submissions, by contacting a dozen colleagues working in the field, and by joining one “listserv,” or email list, for survivors of sexual abuse.

“The Internet took the message around the world,” Ryerson said.

She received more than 600 submissions by the August 15, 2009 deadline.

Then came the tough work of winnowing the collection down to book-length size.

“I read everything, and then read them again, then narrowed it down to 100,” Ryerson said. “I felt, after a while, that the writers were my teachers: I learned so much from them about bravery, strength, and willingness to heal.”

With the help of a freelance editor, who helped work out a “flow” for the book, the anthology took its final shape.

Submissions that made the final cut needed little by way of editing, she said: “It’s beautiful writing.”

Some of the selections are about the sexual violence itself, Ryerson said, but most “are about the journey since.”

“The pieces represent different places in the process of healing,” Ryerson said. “Some are raw; some are well down the road.”

They include submissions from both men and women.

“Having talked to many men, I have come to the conclusion that there is far more sexual abuse of men than is usually acknowledged,” she added.

Photography

The anthology gained some stunning photographic images, after Ryerson confided to one of the contributors, “Sabrina” in Georgia, that she had no art for the book.

Sabrina, who had been a professional photographer for decades, sent a collection of photographs, most from the natural world, about 16 of which are included as “grace notes, here and there,” in the book.

The cover features Sabrina’s photo of water lilies, taken at the home of painter Claude Monet in Giverny, France, which were part of Sabrina’s own story of recovery.

Sabrina told Ryerson that “when she was young and seeking solace, she would head to the Museum of Modern Art (in New York) and stand in front of Monet’s water lilies, to try to find inner peace.” Later, she was able to travel there and photograph the lilies.

According to the Safer Society Foundation website, “Approximately 25% of women and 17% of men in the United States have been sexually abused by the time they reach their 18th birthdays. In some other countries, abuse statistics are far higher.”

Extrapolating those numbers out, Ryerson figures that something like two billion of the globe’s inhabitants have been sexually abused.

“It’s a staggering number, and unlike natural disasters, it’s human-inflicted and doesn’t have to happen,” she said.

“As I was reading the pieces, I kept sitting back saying, ‘Why is this happening to this degree, and what can we do to change that?’”

Ryerson said the April 21 “book launch,” 4 p.m. at the John Dewey Lounge, Old Mill, UVM, was organized by Prof. Susan Roche. Roche is the author of “The Vermont Approach,” a plan to create an educational program for young people of all ages on the topic of sexual abuse prevention.

The event will end in time for attendees to participate in the 32^nd annual “Take Back the Night” rally and march in Burlington, sponsored by the Women’s Rape Crisis Center.