About the Project
Not much is known about the contributions that Australia’s disabled authors have made to our literary heritage. This project aims to provide information about their writing and lives as writers.
Our Mission
We aim to ensure that disabled writers are counted in discussions about Australian literature. We also aim to show how disabled authors became writers, how their impairments influenced the genre and form of their writing, and how cultural attitudes shaped responses to their work.
Project Background
In 2018, realising that little was known of Australian literature about disability, Dr Jessica White compiled the Writing Disability in Australia dataset in AustLit, the Australian Literature database.
In 2022, she and Dr Amanda Tink co-edited a special issue of Australian Literary Studies on ‘Writing Disability in Australia’ to draw attention to the ways that disabled people are represented in Australian literature.
In 2024, Jessica and Amanda began their Australia Research Council-funded project ‘Finding Australia’s Disabled Authors’ to continue educating readers and listeners about the contributions disabled authors have made to Australia’s literary heritage. They aim to do this in the following ways:
Who Are Australia’s Disabled Authors?
By gathering information on Australia’s disabled authors into a searchable index, readers and listeners can learn who Australia’s disabled authors are.
Writing and Impairment
Through a series of case studies, readers and listeners can learn how impairment facilitates and enhances creativity in the working lives and writing practices of Australian authors.
Heritage
By highlighting writing by Australia’s disabled authors, readers and listeners can see that Australia’s disabled authors have a vibrant and creative literary lineage.
What is AustLit & Why We Use It
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