Attention writers: Amie Newman is seeking stories about eating disorders in midlife
I live in West Seattle, by the water, where I’m teaching myself to play the guitar and co-leading women’s circles on rituals, myths, and story sharing for perimenopausal and menopausal women. I’m the proud mother of two brilliant humans, and in my spare time, I am an abortion doula, a certified yoga teacher, a lover of music, films, nature, and most of all, my beautiful community of friends and family.
In my day job, I serve on the executive team and as the head of communications for a large Seattle-based nonprofit human services organization that provides food, financial assistance, and housing to individuals and families in need, as well as support for survivors of domestic violence, refugee resettlement, and other critical services.
I’m in the midst of editing — and seeking submissions for! — an anthology about midlife women called This Is Not Your Mother’s Eating Disorder
I am seeking personal essays, poetry, illustrations, and cultural commentary from women who have experienced an eating disorder in midlife:
- 1,000-3,000 words for personal essays and interviews; 100-200 words for poems.
- Please submit here by November 30, 2025. I’m happy to speak to anyone who has questions or would like to partner in some way.
As a former women’s health journalist, editor, and writer, the idea for the book was born after experiencing a resurgence of an eating disorder at 54 years old, for which I was in a partial hospitalization program a couple of years ago.
Midlife and menopause are risky times for women who have had an eating disorder, but it can also put women at risk for developing eating disorders. This is an under-covered and under-researched area of women’s health, and it’s past time for us to break the shame and stigma surrounding this issue.
I am in the initial stages of collaborating on a short documentary about this as well, and will be looking for investors and funding.
I am also excited to organize and co-lead in-person and online workshops for women to creatively explore and share our experiences with perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause, and the ways in which these impact our bodies and lives through storytelling, writing, rituals, and discussion to eclipse the Western paradigm of aging and to honor these times of life.
My healing process
Writing about my experiences with a midlife eating disorder has been so helpful in my recovery process. I think it’s important for people to understand that recovery from an eating disorder looks different for everyone and, in fact, there is no clinically agreed-upon definition of “recovery” from an eating disorder.
I find comfort in defining my own healing process and connecting with other women who have experienced an eating disorder in midlife and with experts who are working to amplify, research, and treat these issues.
This is what I would love for women in midlife to know about eating disorders
Hormonal and bodily changes experienced during menopause can change our eating behaviors and how we feel about our bodies. This can lead to eating disorders developing, coming back, or getting worse.
Healthcare providers only receive between 0 and 2 hours of training on eating disorders, so if you have a health care provider you trust and you have experienced an eating disorder in the past or you feel you might be struggling with one, please let them know your history or your current state. You are not alone!
My career highlights
- As a native New Yorker shaped by decades in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve built a career as a storyteller first and foremost. With a deep and abiding passion for uplifting the voices of women from all backgrounds and identities, my work as a storyteller has always centered on the intimate, complex truths of our bodies — truths that are often silenced by stigma, shame, and structural neglect.
From pregnancy to miscarriage, body image to breastfeeding, menstruation to menopause, I write not just about these issues, but through them — braiding my lived experience as a woman with other women’s experiences into a broader narrative of resistance, reckoning, and repair.
My personal essays and poetry delve into trauma, healing, and the profoundly human aspects of justice.
- I served as Managing Editor and Senior Staff Writer at the UN Foundation’s award-winning RH Reality Check (now Rewire News), which won a Planned Parenthood Maggie Award in 2010 under my editorial guidance. The publication was nominated for Webby Awards for Best Political Website and Best Health Website, where I covered reproductive health policy, access to care, and maternal health. I wrote extensively about issues from abortion politics to breastfeeding equity to the intersections of human rights and reproductive health.
- My writing has been cited in books on reproductive rights, childbirth, violence against women, and public health. My articles and personal essays have been published in Truthout, Lillth Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Entropy, Role Reboot, Rewire News, Our Bodies Ourselves, Bright Magazine, Midstory Magazine, The Manifest Station, and Kveller among other publications.
- I contributed to the most recent edition of the seminal book Our Bodies, Ourselves and was the site’s staff blogger, covering topics like racial disparities in maternal mortality and the realities of pelvic organ prolapse. I’ve also helped shape digital storytelling at the Gates Foundation, co-creating content for the blog Impatient Optimists to amplify global health initiatives.
- I worked as editor of women’s health publications including the now-defunct Ask Me About My Uterus (though the book exists!), as well as poetry editor for Our Truths, Nuestras Verdades, served as the Board President of Pro-Choice Washington, contributed to one of the longest running sex-ed digital clearinghouses Scarleteen, and managed communications for a feminist abortion clinic in Seattle, where I edited one of the first abortion storytelling books to be used in clinics throughout the country.
- I have interviewed women in rural India who lead grassroots efforts to expand access to family planning with the Gates Foundation; helped open safe birthing centers in Nairobi with Jacaranda Health to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Kenya; and shared the stories of women-led collectives in the slums of Mumbai working to improve pregnancy and childbirth outcomes through education and community support with RH Reality Check.
- I’ve interviewed Melinda Gates about motherhood, was invited to share a table discussion on white feminism with Jada Pinkett Smith, Rachel Cargle, and Justina Machado, and written extensively about my own experiences as a mother.
- After graduating from New York University, I launched a brief career in television production, working for Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Club MTV, and Michelob Presents Night Music, among others. I received a Certificate in Documentary Filmmaking from the University of Washington, and as a fledgling filmmaker, I produced short documentaries about women and body image, the volunteer simplicity movement, and feminist activism. I was also an associate producer on the fantastic short film ¡Poder!
I may be open to trades with Founding MidstHers after I publish the anthology
In the future, I’d love to offer my writing/editing/strategic communications expertise, but right now, I am not sure what I need in return aside from help promoting the call for submissions to the anthology and helping to create a more solid outline for my workshops. I may also need, in the near future, support to help find investors/funders for the short documentary.
How The Midst community can help me
I’d like to meet and network with other women who are writers, editors, artists, and entrepreneurs who are invested in and motivated by a desire to improve the health and lives of women, particularly midlife women, and who are interested in contributing to the anthology and/or partnering on the anthology (co-editor). I am also very interested in developing an online version of the menopause and storytelling/story-sharing workshops, and, ultimately, support to help find funders/investors for the documentary about midlife women and eating disorders.
What I’m manifesting next
All of these projects are what I’m working hard to manifest and see to fruition. I am so grateful to midlife women – we are DIYing so much for ourselves, which I talk about on Stephanie Sprenger’s podcast. I believe GenX women are carving the path when it comes to discussing so many issues around midlife: menopause, ADHD, eating disorders, etc. We have had to share this information with each other, friend to friend or through platforms like The Midst, because there has been a black hole of information about these issues in general. I am manifesting that our collective power as midlife women will help smash shame, stigma, and the dearth of information about our bodies and lives!
Let’s connect here
- Submit to the This Is Not Your Mother’s Eating Disorder anthology by November 30, 2025
- My Substack, This Is Not Your Mother’s Eating Disorder
- Instagram @amiebnewman
- Amie Newman is a member of the Founding MidstHer community for solopreneurs, founders, experts, self-starters, and community builders. Learn how to join the Founding MidstHer program here.
Related stories
Meno-rexia: The alarming trend of eating disorders during peri/menopause
