At the heart of publishing since 1858
Issue 5944
Editor's Letter Rewriting the narrative I
f words have power, then the people who publish, promote and sell them have the ultimate power. They, or rather you, choose who is heard and who is silenced, who is seen and who remains invisible. The choices you make don’t just impact readers, they resonate out across societ. Books help us understand the world we live in and the people around us, especially those with different back- grounds to our own. We gain new insights which, inten- tionally or not, affect the way we treat others. Publishing more diverse voices has brought positive visibilit to many marginalised communities. The same needs to be done for disabled people.
It often feels like we are invisible; we’re barely represented on page and on screen
There are over 14.1 million disabled in the UK, with a spending power estimated at over £16bn, and yet it oſten feels like we are invisible; we’re barely represented on page and screen, our stories are untold—or worse, told by non- disabled people. This means they lack the authenticit and nuance that disabled authors can bring to their genres, a unique perspective that is currently missing, but you have the power to change this. Together we can write a new narrative around disabilit and the way disabled people are perceived. We can end harmful stereotpes and replace them with realistic representations of people who are more than their diagnosis or their physical challenges, people who live and love and dream of a beter future. As we all do. I was pleased to be asked to curate this special issue on behalf of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI), the group I co-founded, but as I write this, I too feel my own sense of
responsibilit. There is vast diversit within the disabilit communit, I could never hope to cover everything that needs to be said, which is why this must only be the start of the conversation.
My aim for The Disabilit Issue is to raise awareness and understanding of the barriers and obstacles disabled authors face. These include physical access to buildings, events and meetings, as well as the lack of virtual alterna- tives for those who can’t travel, and the need for adapt- abilit around working practices, adjustments to forms of communication and improved atitudes towards disabled people. I also wanted to offer practical solutions, simple and easy ways to make the industry more accessible to and supportive of disabled people. Some barriers will require organisational changes, while tailored solutions to specific problems will be solved by collaborations between agents, editors and publishers and their individual authors. These discussions can only happen if the industry
fosters a more inclusive, accepting environment, where people can talk openly about their access needs without fear of discrimination or prejudice. Borrowing a metaphor from the recent
Paralympics, I’m now passing the baton on to you. Read our stories, listen to the feedback and look at where you have the power to bring about positive change. If we work together we can create not only beter books, but a beter world.
Claire Wade is the author of The Choice (Orion, 2019); she won the Good Housekeeping Novel Competition and the East Anglian Book Award for Fiction. She co-founded Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses.
Claire Wade Guest editor Contents24th September 2021 The cover illustrator
Ananya Rao-Middleton is a disabled woman of colour illustrator and activist who uses her creative work as a tool to speak truth to the voices of marginalised communi- ties at the intersection of disability, race and gender. As someone living with MS and other chronic conditions, she is particu- larly passionate about raising awareness about invisible disabilities.
TheBookseller.com
In my adult brain I now realise how damaging
that can be for a child, if you don’t see yourself in books or on TV or in the media
Books Author Interview 18 05 This Week
The Lead Story ........ 06 The Disabled Author Experience ..... 10 Opinion: Hayley Steed .. 13 Author Interview ...... 14 Opinion: Catherine Miller ....... 16 Accessible events ..... 17 Author Interview ...... 18 Opinion: Lisette Auton .. 20 Staff networks ........ 21 Improving accessibility . 22
Opinion: Michael Amherst ...... 24 Opinion: Angela Clarke . 25 Broadening the debate . 26 Opinion: J L Hall ........ 28 Opinion: David Thorpe . 30 Books Preview ........ 32
Data
The bestseller charts ... 42 Jobs in Books
Recruitment .......... 48
24.09.21 ISSN 0006-7539 24 At the heart of publishing since 1858. £5.95
Wade photography: Kerry Curl
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