THIS WEEK
Opinion Opening doors
Michael Amherst
The needs of disabled creatives must be taken into account when diversifying the trade—and then matched with funding
Taken for granted T
disabled authors can’t even afford to start. I suffer from psoriatic arthritis and Crohn’s disease. The nature of my conditions means there are periods where I am unable to work, while at other times I can be in remission and my work and life are unaffected. The frustration is not just the disabilit, but its impact on my writing career.
When my condition was at its worst, my GP said:
“We need to talk about your inabilit to do a regular job.” Yet, while the self-employed life of an author can provide flexibilit to work around disabilit, this is only possible once you are an established author—or if you receive appropriate levels of support in early career. There is an expectation that writers starting out will have an additional income stream to live off before their writing takes off. Yet, fewer disabled people are in work (only half, as opposed to 80% of the rest of the population), while it is also harder for the disabled to find and sustain work around fluctuating conditions or medical appointments. Living with a disabilit is costly too. According to Scope, “even aſter receiving disabilit benefits such as PIP, disabled adults face average extra costs of £583 per month”. As a result, it is simply not practicable to expect disabled authors to have the means of funding time to write when they start out. Oſten, we are either fit enough to write or earn part-time—not both. Finally, as writers are self-employed, we have no access to sick pay. Many struggle simply to make up the shortfall incurred from past illness.
24 24th September 2021
Even those fortunate enough to have savings, or other means of financial support, will face barriers due to these additional costs and the additional time required to write. This is a vicious circle, with the disabled author either unable to work at all, or only earning enough to get by. In terms of the additional costs incurred in work, the 2010 Equalit Act places a legal obligation on employers to make reasonable adjustments to help disabled employees, and those that aren’t covered can be met by employment support scheme Access to Work, which is open to both employees and the self-employed. Additional costs can include travel, the need for support worker(s) and essen- tial equipment or adaptations. However, it has a lower earnings limit, currently £6,240 per year, which is far greater than many writers starting out are likely to earn. As a result, while some grant-making bodies point writers to Access to Work as a means of addressing accessibilit, many are ineligible.
While grant-making bodies do an enormous amount
he publishing industry has been at great pains recently to increase the diversit of those it publishes but the barriers to entry for many underrepresented groups are time, opportunit and money. Disabled writers are unique in oſten suffering a combination of all of these: illness or managing disabilit can require more time to finish a project; uncertaint, for ourselves as well as collaborators/ publishers, can put people off; while the financial impact of all the above oſten mean
While grant- making bodies do an enormous amount to support writers, there is no dedicated national funder for disabled writers
to support writers, there is no dedicated national funder for disabled writers, nor a resource centre detailing avail- able support. All writers face financial and time pressures producing work, yet the disabled face this, and then some. I would like to see a greater openness to time and financial flexibilit from grant-making bodies. Disabled writers oſten have a greater funding need, as outlined above, as well as requiring extra time, and therefore extra financial support, to complete any project impacted by disabilit. Funding bodies’ recognition of these needs would go a long way to removing some of the hurdles disabled writers face.
This should be coupled with an openness to discussing with authors how their disabilit may impact their work. I remain anxious about approaching one funder, aſter illness meant my research trip was curtailed and, as a result, I have neither completed the project, nor will the work be anything like my original proposal. Publishers and funders should consider a blueprint for working with disa- bled authors that seeks to maintain a supportive dialogue about the time and financial pressures caused by their illness and agree ways to help. If applicants were aware of this, it would remove the barrier many face in thinking they cannot, or should not, apply.
Agents and publishers can also help. Existing schemes are great for opening up the industry. However, these schemes should consider some form of funding to make them truly accessible. This would cover additional costs associated with disabilit, such as travel or overnight accommodation, as well as financial support so disabled authors can afford to take part. Ultimately, all writers want to produce and complete a project to the highest standard. Disabled authors simply require adequate support to meet that shared goal.
Michael Amherst is the author of Go the Way Your Blood Beats (Repeater Books), for which he received an award from Arts Council England and won the 2019 Stonewall Israel Fishman Award for Nonfiction. He is also the winner of the 2020 Hubert Butler Essay Prize. He was shortlisted for the 2021 Observer/ Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts and is currently working on a novel.
Photography: Phil Sharp
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