Popular culture has been slow to adopt diverse love stories. So when you don't see yourself reflected in the love stories you consume, you write your own! To celebrate Disability Pride Month, host Antia Rao meets three folks who have explored disabled love, romance and intimacy through writing.
Anita speaks with author and journalist Keah Brown about her experience with cerebral palsy and her multi-year journey to self-love, which she documented in her personal essay collection “The Pretty One.” Keah shares how writing, whether it be a viral Twitter hashtag or an essay on chairs, became an artform to express her self-acceptance.
Activist Maria Town, CEO and president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, also joins the conversation to discuss opening up about her romantic relationship for the first time in her essay, ”This is My Solemn Vow.” The essay was published in the recent anthology “Disability Intimacy,” edited by activist Alice Wong.
Anita also talks with British romance novelist Talia Hibbert about how she writes disabled and neurodivergent romantic lead characters into her stories. Talia discusses her rom-com novel “Get A Life, Chloe Brown” and how her own experience with chronic pain and fibromyalgia shaped how she wrote Chloe’s story.
Special thanks to Alice Wong for her contributions to today’s episode.
