Can I Say No?

‘No’ is the first thing I ever said. It was actually the only thing I said in my first speaking months. Like most children, I was born with an innate ability to set boundaries for myself. ‘No.’ ‘Mine.’ I intuitively knew how to practise self-care and self-preservation. Then, at some point, just like my ability to shuffle across the floor on my butt, I forgot how to say no…

Traumatic childhood sleepovers, stressful social occasions, unrealistic demands at work, unwanted second dates and endless offers of cake, in her memoir, award-winning writer Stefanie Preissner leaves no NO unexplored. From the issue of consent, and what happens when a whole country comes together to say Yes, Can I Say NO? is one woman’s honest and hilarious take on how re-learning one small word can pave the way to saying YES to who you really are.