One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people. Registration required Founder and Director of the Disability Visibility Project Alice Wong will speak with Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Elsa Sjunneson about their contributions to the collection. About the book
From Harriet McBryde Johnson’s account of her debate with Peter Singer over her own personhood to original pieces by authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma; from blog posts, manifestos, and eulogies to Congressional testimonies, and beyond: this anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love. About the speakers
Alice Wong is a disabled activist, media maker, and research consultant based in San Francisco, California. She is the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, an online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture. Alice is also the host and co-producer of the Disability Visibility podcast and co-partner in a number of collaborations such as #CripTheVote and Access Is Love. From 2013 to 2015, Alice served as a member of the National Council on Disability, an appointment by President Barack Obama. You can follow her on Twitter: @SFdirewolf: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (she/they) is a disabled, autisitc nonbinary femme writer of Burgher/Tamil Sri Lankan and Irish/Roma ascent. The author or co-editor of nine books, including (co-edited with Ejeris Dixon) Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement, Tonguebreaker, Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice and Dirty River, their work has won the Lambda and been shortlisted five times for the Publishing Triangle Awards. A lead artist with Sins Invalid since 2009, they are the 2020 winner of the Jeanne Cordova Prize for Lesbian and Queer Nonfiction and a 2020 Disability Futures Fellow.Hugo, Aurora and British Fantasy Award Award winner Elsa Sjunneson is a Deafblind hurricane in a vintage dress. She is most well known for her non-fiction work which has appeared at CNN, tor.com, The Boston Globe and many other venues. In addition, she writes fiction and game design texts such as the Fate Accessibility Toolkit and Serial Box's Marvel's Jessica Jones: Playing With Fire. As an activist for disability rights, she has worked with New Jersey 11th for Change and the New York Disability Pride Parade. Her debut memoir releases from Tiller Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in 2021. She lives in Seattle, WA. Accessibility
ASL interpretation and captioning will be provided during the event. Please contact leap@spl.org with any questions. ADA Accommodations: We can provide accommodations for people with disabilities at Library events. Please contact leap@spl.org at least seven days before the event to request accommodations. Captions are available for all recorded Library programs. Event Information: For registration information and other questions, Ask Us: www.spl.org… or 206-386-4636. Audience: Adults,LEAP
Language: English Sponsors
The event is presented in partnership with Estelita’s Library and supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation. Thanks to media sponsor The Seattle Times. Event information provided by The Seattle Public Library. |