Local physician’s COVID-related fiction now in the Museum of Health Care

When the pandemic was declared and Elder’s hospital duties and office were temporarily shuttered, he was left with time on his hands.

Elder used the time for some “fun escapism” through writing.

In June 2020, Dr. Graham Elder published his fictional novella A Covid Odyssey, a medical thriller and hero’s journey about love and resilience in a world ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This novella was quickly followed by a sequel, A Covid Odyssey – Second Wave, released in April 2021.

The subject matter of both these works addressed the most controversial health-related topic of the day – the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the relevance of writing about a pandemic during a pandemic that interested the Museum of Health Care in Kingston, Ontario.

“My books have been accepted into the museum for their Pandemic collection and exposition, which is a completely unexpected honour and privilege,” says Elder.

Created in 1991, the non-profit museum has a collection of 35,000 medical and general health publications from across Canada.

The COVID-19 collection and exposition were specifically put together to help memorialize and archive the lived experience of this 21st-century pandemic.

“Dr. Elder’s books are now a permanent part of the COVID-19 collection here at the Museum of Health Care at Kingston,” says Savannah Sewell, the museum’s 2021 Research Fellow, who is also running the COVID-19 collection project.

“After the current project is finished, they will be housed in the collection for future COVID-19 research.” 

According to the mandate on their website, the collections at the museum help to tell “[t]he story of Canadian health and medicine” and “how people have preserved health and managed disease, pain and suffering,” as well as connecting visitors with “the experience of people in past times and provide context and perspective on today’s health issues.”

Housed in the Ann Baillie Building National Historic Site, a former residence for student nurses built in 1904, the museum is situated on the grounds at Kingston General Hospital.

“Preserving items like books, even fiction, represent how individuals experience health crisis both modernly and historically,” says Sewell. 

“[S]ome of the most interesting information we have on a health crisis like the plague was born out of plague paintings … works of art that blend the emotional and creative processes of people with the lived experience of a pandemic.”

She notes that because Dr. Elder’s writings are set in Canada, they mention a variety of very real issues Canadian residents have had to deal with, like the Canada/U.S. border restrictions.

“These books are a creative and valuable reflection of the Canadian COVID experience.” 

Elder says that when he wrote the books, he was indeed trying to capture specific pandemic moments in time that readers could look back upon and measure how far we’ve come.

“We were all so scared and ignorant in the beginning, terrified that this was the next Spanish Flu,” he says.

“With the help of science and the fortitude of our healthcare workers and volunteers, we seem to have gained the upper hand and beaten down this viral scourge, at least for now. I’d always hoped that documenting the pandemic experience using a fictional approach would encourage greater readership and could perhaps even impart some degree of education about COVID.”

Elder feels that in this regard his books have been successful.

“To have my books displayed in a museum and logged as representational artifacts of a period of time in Canadian medical history is truly humbling.”

Interest in Elder’s books has continued to grow.

“I’m overwhelmed. Patients, Sault Area Hospital staff, and often complete strangers approach me daily to express how much they enjoyed reading my stories, many of them wolfing the books down in a single sitting which is the greatest compliment any author can have,” he says.

“I’ve had the pleasure of autographing many books which is quite exhilarating, even when it happens during a busy office or clinic. I've even been invited to a local book club to discuss my work and the writing process. My sincerest gratitude goes out to all those who’ve supported me over the past year.”

Initially, after the last lockdown, Elder’s books were available at Stone’s Office Supply and Shabby Motley Handcraft.

“Both stores feature a dedicated local authors section for which I’m very grateful and is a testament of their dedication to the artistic community of the Soo.”

Recently, Coles in the Station Mall agreed to stock his books.

“Having my books available in Canada’s biggest bookstore franchise [a subsidiary of Chapters and the parent company Indigo] alongside cherished authors too numerous to mention, is literally a dream come true.” 

A Covid Odyssey and A Covid Odyssey – Second Wave are also available on Amazon as well as in Epub format everywhere Epub books are sold (Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble).