NEWS
New Books
Eli Clare’s Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming (Duke University Press) is a blend of poetry and creative nonfiction that names and dreams kinships with the “more-than-human world.” In an interview with Alison Kafer recently published in Orion Magazine, he describes how the work began as a form of access and how “listening/paying attention, quiet curiosity, and willingness to hold shifting complexity and nuance over time” affords us the ongoing process of access discovery.
Versus Versus: 100 Poems by Deaf, Disabled & Neurodivergent Poets, edited by Rachael Boast, is an anthology and “urgent redress, unpicking many misapprehensions and misrepresentations.” 23 of the poets share their work in an online compilation video.
Jina B. Kim’s Care at the End of the World: Dreaming of Infrastructure in Crip-of-Color Writing (Duke University Press) is a study of feminist, queer, and disabled writers of color who reveal liberation through “recuperating dependency, cultivating radical interdependency, and recognizing the numerous support systems upon which survival depends.”
Danilyn Rutherford’s Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World (Duke University Press) is a mother, widow, and anthropologist’s memoir about “what it means to be a person in the spaces between what we can and cannot say.”
Amanda Cachia’s Hospital Aesthetics: Disability, Medicine, Activism (Manchester University Press) is a study of “artwork that explores the ever-subjective experience of illness, set apart from and outside of a clinical or therapeutic setting, and in opposition to the medical model of disability.” Use discount code EVENT30 for 30% off.
Leon J. Hilton’s Counter-cartographies: Neurodivergence and the Errancies of Performance (University of Minnesota Press) is a historical account of “the deep interconnections between performance, perception, and the historical construction of the ‘neurotypical.’” A book cover shows the markings on a wooden ruler falling down.
New Works
Adapt/Evolve, curated by Ethan Lu, Barbara Weinreich, Carli Spina, and Fawz Kabra, is up at the Fashion Institute of Technology’s Art and Design Gallery (NYC) through Oct. 25.
For The Land, Collin Cunningham reports on disability-focused book seller Nightlight Books’ search for a retail space in Cleveland, Ohio.
Stim Cinema, curated by Christine Shaw, is up at The Blackwood Gallery at the University of Toronto Mississauga through Feb. 28, 2026. The exhibition “explores neurodivergent perception, agency, and communication in an era increasingly defined by misinformation, polarization, and systemic distrust.” Featuring work by The Neurocultures Collective (Georgia Bradburn, Benjamin Brown, Sam Shown-Ahearn, Robin Elliot-Knowles, Lucy Walker), a group of neurodivergent artists in collaboration with artist-filmmaker Steven Eastwood.
Bounce 2025, Northern Ireland’s 14th annual showcase of disabled, d/Deaf and neurodivergent artistry, takes place in Belfast and Derry~Londonderry this week.
Reasonable Adjustments (RAD) 2.0 by Peterborough Presents features 6 creative projects marking 30 years of the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act, including a t-shirt rail by lead artist Fae Kilburn.
At the opening of The Last Mood at Your Mood Projects (San Francisco), disabled artist Jillian Crochet performed Toilet Tax.
Disabled advocate Nico Meyering recently launched a web series called Our Disabled Future.
In Other News…
Scottish disabled artist Nnena Kalu has been nominated for the UK’s prestigious Turner Prize for her contribution to the Conversations exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool) and for her work Hanging Sculpture 1 to 10 at Manifesta 15 (Barcelona).
Former U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights Sara Minkara recently published “Disability in Gaza: The Forgotten Casualty of Genocide” on her Substack.
The trailer for Wicked: For Good includes a major spoiler for those wondering how the film will rework the ableist scene where Elphaba casts a spell that allows Nessarose to walk.
Santa Monica, California recently adopted the city’s first “Aging and Disability Action Plan.”
CALLS
The People’s CDC is coordinating a letter-writing campaign to urge Congress to extend telehealth services permanently through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)Committee is seeking input on new guidelines to fight multiple and intersecting discrimination against women and girls with disabilities. Submit by Oct. 15.
Peter Torres Fremlin’s Disability Debrief newsletter has issued an open call for submissions to a disability science fiction series called Letters from the Future. Submit by Nov. 1.
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is accepting applications for the 2026 Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award. Apply by Oct. 20.
AAPD is also accepting applications for summer internships. Apply by Oct. 21.
ADD International is hiring a contract-based Global Disability Leadership Academy Facilitator. Apply by Oct. 22.
EVENTS
Severed Screening + Panel discussion
Sunday, Oct. 5, 3pm ET, on Zoom
Donkeysaddle Projects, New Disabled South, and Adalah Justice Project will launch a month-long campaign with a virtual screening of the new short documentary Severed, followed by a discussion linking Palestine and disability justice. The discussion will feature Mohamad Saleh (protagonist and co-producer of Severed), Dom Kelly (ED of New Disabled South), Sandra Tamari (ED of Adalah Justice Project), and Jen Deerinwater (ED of Crushing Colonialism).Deaf Rave Festival 2025
Saturday, Oct. 4, in-person at Rich Mix (London)
The beloved festival is coming back bigger and better than ever, and we have an incredible day planned out for you, filled with activities, workshops, performances and music for all! Special guests: MC Geezer, DJ Jeffo, Sophie Byers, Miriam Dubois, Deaf Mimo, Diamond, Jino, Geeraii, Deaf Chef and many many more... Look forward to some amazing entertainment and discover new things like... Pet Corner / Sensory / Arts & Crafts / Bouncy Castle / Bubble Show / Pop Up Arcade / Face Painting / Woojer Zone / Soft Play or pick up some new skills from our smashing workshops like... DJ Workshop / VJ Workshop / Drumming Workshop / Juggling Workshop / Mime Workshop.Speaking Vibrations
October 2 - 4, in-person at ODD Box (Ottawa, Canada)
Speaking Vibrations is an award-winning, multidisciplinary performance featuring signed music, ASL song/poetry, spoken word, song, percussive and contemporary dance. Throughout this piece, four women explore their origin stories and, along the way, discover and connect with one another. This production features vibrotactile devices, audio description, assistive listening, tactile interpretation, and dynamic captions/video projections.Artist to Artist: Disabled Erotics
Tuesdays, Oct. 14 - Nov. 4, on Zoom
A course led by Mae Howard and June Kramer at the School of Making Thinking in partnership with Abrons Arts Center. Disabled Erotics examines the tension between BDSM and kink as liberatory practices and their enmeshment within the prison and medical industrial complexes. This class will explore histories of key figures in kink scenes such as Bob Flanagan, Sheree Rose, Audre Lorde, and Sheila Courser, read sections of Alice Wong’s new Disability Intimacy, and engage with Amber Jamilla Musser’s book Sensational Flesh: Race, Power, and Masochism, specifically the chapter on Bob Flanagan and Audre Lorde. Students will create week-long pain journals inspired by Flanagan’s 1995 text Pain Journals and engage with Audre Lorde’s Uses of the Erotic through a creative project highlighting sensation other than sight. Through this class, students will think complexly about touch, intimacy, eroticism, kink, and BDSM in ways that combine the political and the personal.Art/Access Lab: Open Lab | Tsehaye Hébert and Terri Lynne Hudson
Sunday, Oct. 5, 2 - 4pm CT, in-person at Experimental Station (Chicago) and on Zoom
Art/Access Lab: Open Labs provides artists in the disability community an affinity space for artists to share emerging projects, test ideas, and gain perspective on their work through community exchange. Attendees are invited to support the creative process by first experiencing emerging projects that are in the development phase, then participating in a moderated conversation that delves into that work. Guided by the needs of the artist, this conversation may explore the themes presented in the work, invite the audience to ask questions and share critique, or the artist may ask questions to the audience regarding their experience of the work.