From Crisis to Canon: COVID-19 Narratives and Global Social Shifts

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the world in different ways—not just physically, but emotionally and socially too. During and after this crisis, writers started producing works that helped people be aware of what was happening around them. This paper analyses how recent literature, like Ali Smith's Summer, Gary Shteyngart's Our Country Friends, and poems from Together in a Sudden Strangeness, captures the feelings and challenges of life during the pandemic. By focusing on major themes such as isolation, digital lives, grief, and inequality, these works demonstrate how literature not only reflects reality but also helps us heal and better understand our society. The paper concludes that stories and poems from this time are important tools for making sense of our shared experience and moving forward.