Disability Pride Month: Spotlight on Authors with Disabilities
Ainsley Shaw • July 11, 2025

July is Disability Pride Month and commemorates the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Lioness Books is celebrating this month by featuring authors with disabilities, amplifying their voices, and highlighting literature that focuses on self-representation, reclamation, inclusion, and history.


Here are some authors with disabilities and literature to engage with this month and beyond:

Octavia E. Butler

Born in Pasadena, California in 1947, Octavia E. Butler remains a trailblazer in writing science fiction and one of the first female and African American writers in the genre. As stated by the National Women’s History Museum, Butler struggled in school as a child due to dyslexia and loved to read and make up stories. At age nine, she found her calling of writing science fiction, and today her stories and books containing themes of racial injustice, women’s rights, global warming, and political inequality are widely renowned. Butler’s eerie dystopian modern classic Parable of the Sower follows the life of a young girl in a post-apocalyptic world of disaster caused by climate change and economic crisis.


Purchase Parable of the Sower

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Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com, via Associated Press

Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com, via Associated Press

Octavia E. Butler

Born in Pasadena, California in 1947, Octavia E. Butler remains a trailblazer in writing science fiction and one of the first female and African American writers in the genre. As stated by the National Women’s History Museum, Butler struggled in school as a child due to dyslexia and loved to read and make up stories. At age nine, she found her calling of writing science fiction, and today her stories and books containing themes of racial injustice, women’s rights, global warming, and political inequality are widely renowned. Butler’s eerie dystopian modern classic Parable of the Sower follows the life of a young girl in a post-apocalyptic world of disaster caused by climate change and economic crisis.


Purchase Parable of the Sower

Purchase Audiobook

Ilya Kaminsky

At just four years old, Ilya Kaminsky lost most of his hearing due to a medical misdiagnosis in his hometown of Odessa, Ukraine. According to the Poetry Foundation, upon being granted political asylum by the United States in 1993 and his father’s death in 1994, he began to write poetry in English. He went on to gain two degrees, co-found Poets for Peace, and collect many accolades for his poems. His 2019 poetry collection Deaf Republic, tells the story of a country in political turmoil where all of the citizens become deaf and learn to use sign language due to the killing a deaf boy.


Purchase Deaf Republic

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Jean-Dominique Bauby

Jean-Dominique Bauby was born in France in 1952 and studied in Paris. He went on to become a journalist and the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine in Paris. In 1995, a stroke paralyzed Jean-Dominique Bauby and left him without the ability to speak or move, otherwise known as locked-in syndrome. A career journalist, Bauby was determined to continue to write and let everyone know that he would not let his new condition engulf him. As noted in Time magazine, he wrote a memoir titled Le Scaphandre et le Papillon using a system composed of blinking his left eye—his only motor skill left—and a special alphabet formed by his nurses. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the English translation of Bauby’s memoir about his experiences living with locked-in syndrome and his devotion to not let it defeat him. It encompasses his joy, irony, and suffering all at once and sold out on its first release.


Purchase The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Purchase Audiobook

Jean-Dominique Bauby

Jean-Dominique Bauby was born in France in 1952 and studied in Paris. He went on to become a journalist and the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine in Paris. In 1995, a stroke paralyzed Jean-Dominique Bauby and left him without the ability to speak or move, otherwise known as locked-in syndrome. A career journalist, Bauby was determined to continue to write and let everyone know that he would not let his new condition engulf him. As noted in Time magazine, he wrote a memoir titled Le Scaphandre et le Papillon using a system composed of blinking his left eye—his only motor skill left—and a special alphabet formed by his nurses. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the English translation of Bauby’s memoir about his experiences living with locked-in syndrome and his devotion to not let it defeat him. It encompasses his joy, irony, and suffering all at once and sold out on its first release.


Purchase The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Purchase Audiobook

Lowell Handler

An educator, photographer, filmmaker, and author, Lowell Handler has lived many lives. His photos have appeared in a plethora of major magazines and newspapers and his personal documentary was nominated for an Emmy and won the San Francisco International Film Festival. Twitch and Shout is the title of both Lowell Handler’s personal documentary and memoir about his life and experiences with Tourette syndrome. As noted on his website, Handler’s memoir “is a heartfelt and often humorous effort to reclaim and humanize a disorder that can keep others at a distance.”


Purchase Twitch and Shout

An honorable mention is Uncanny magazine’s 24th issue, “Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction.” This issue contains short-fiction, poetry, and essays by numerous authors with overarching themes of reconfiguring the science fiction genre, dismantling and rejecting certain narratives, and making space for a variety of disabled voices, characters, and stories.


Find the manifesto here and the issue here.

Via Uncanny magazine

Via Uncanny magazine

An honorable mention is Uncanny magazine’s 24th issue, “Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction.” This issue contains short-fiction, poetry, and essays by numerous authors with overarching themes of reconfiguring the science fiction genre, dismantling and rejecting certain narratives, and making space for a variety of disabled voices, characters, and stories.


Find the manifesto here and the issue here.

Anthologies & Collections:

Via Penguin Random House

Anthologies & Collections:


Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Alice Wong, this anthology of first-person writing from disabled authors, activists, artists, politicians, lawyers, and more brings perspectives and voices that often go without notice and are highly misrepresented and underrepresented, to light.


Purchase Disability Visibility

Purchase Audiobook

Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Alice Wong, this anthology of first-person writing from disabled authors, activists, artists, politicians, lawyers, and more brings perspectives and voices that often go without notice and are highly misrepresented and underrepresented, to light.


Purchase Disability Visibility

Purchase Audiobook

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times

This essay collection contains personal first-hand accounts from people living with disabilities. It is edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland–Thomson, and the various authors aim to reclaim space riddled with misrepresentation and stereotypes by telling their own stories and experiences.


Purchase About Us

Purchase Audiobook

About Us: Essays from the Disability Series of the New York Times

This essay collection contains personal first-hand accounts from people living with disabilities. It is edited by Peter Catapano and Rosemarie Garland–Thomson, and the various authors aim to reclaim space riddled with misrepresentation and stereotypes by telling their own stories and experiences.


Purchase About Us

Purchase Audiobook

What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement

In What We Have Done, Fred Pelka presents the history and voices of the Disability Rights Movement from 1950 to 1990 with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It chronicles the ways in which disability has come to be viewed as a political issue and how people with disabilities have had to fight for equal representation and participation.


Purchase What We Have Done

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Lioness Spotlights Local: Raven Vervain

By Ainsley Shaw • December 28, 2025
Local author and poet Raven Vervain talks with us about her debut writing collection, The Murder in my Garden and her upcoming book, Everyone has a Shotgun for a Spine (to be released on June 21, 2026) along with her zine-making process.
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Book Review: Train Dreams by Dennis Johnson

By Biff Rushton • December 22, 2025
From the frontier to the screen; the enduring ache of Train Dreams.
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15 Classic Christmas Books of All Time You Should Be Reading Now

December 19, 2025
Celebrate the season with 15 classic Christmas books for kids, teens, and adults, featuring mystery, magic, and holiday favorites.
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Holiday Gift Guide

By Ainsley Shaw • November 24, 2025
Find the perfect read for every book lover on your list with our curated Holiday Gift Guide! We have taken the time to highlight some show stopping presents to make your shopping a breeze. Shop small and support your local bookstore this holiday season by purchasing gifts through our Bookshop and Libro sites. View our entire selection of December book recommendations in physical and E-book format here and audiobooks here . From all of us at Lioness Books, thank you for supporting small businesses and Happy Holidays! For the Romance Devotee
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12 Bedtime Audiobooks That Will Surely Help You Sleep

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Find 12 soothing bedtime audiobooks for adults, kids, and toddlers with gentle stories and meditations to support better sleep and calm nights.
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Local Author Spotlight: Kevin Ashton

By Ainsley Shaw • October 29, 2025
Local author Kevin Ashton talks with us about his upcoming book The Story of Stories , in which he outlines the history and development of human storytelling from night fires to the contemporary digital age. Look out for the release of Ashton’s book on March 3, 2026. Visit our Bookshop or Libro sites to pre-order The Story of Stories.
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The Gulag Archipelago: A Voice of Necessity

By Biff Rushton • October 17, 2025
Book Review by Biff Rushton
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Local Author Cassidie Salley’s Book Launch: Vanish in the Ambre

By Ainsley Shaw • October 13, 2025
Local author Cassidie Salley talks with us about her new gothic fantasy novel, Vanish in the Ambre . We spoke with Salley previously back in April about her book After the Light Died , and are now hosting her Book Launch Party at Wildfire Park in Leander on October 24th from 5pm to 9pm! There will be trick or treating, live music, and a food truck. Come in costume to receive a free Lioness Books tote bag! AS: Tell us about your new gothic fantasy book “Vanish in the Ambre”! CS: “It’s set in modern-day Texas, in a town called Trickem (based on the real-life town of Trickham!). All sorts of witches and fantastical creatures live there, but the town’s largest population is their infestation of ghosts. Our main character, Becca Newman, is a necromancer, specializing in reviving people’s pets and familiars. She’s on the job one day reviving a familiar when she stumbles upon a secret she wasn’t supposed to find.” AS: Do you have any favorite moments from the book—or writing it—that you can share with us? CS: “At the very beginning of the book is a chapter where Becca goes to the movies and a ghost interrupts her watching. That was the first time this story really clicked for me, trying to merge the modern-day teenager just trying to hang out with a deep and dark haunting. I spent the rest of the book trying to chase that energy I found in that one chapter.” AS: What messages or sentiments do you hope readers will take away from your book? CS: “While this is a very silly and (hopefully) funny book, a lot of its deeper themes are about grief and loneliness. Losing yourself after a traumatic event, losing friends and wondering what happened, trying to find yourself but still being labeled an outsider…all of this stuff is hard, and unfortunately a lot of young people can relate to it. While Becca is certainly not perfect, she is unapologetically herself. She’s alone because of it sometimes. Then one day, people who appreciate that about her start gravitating towards her. If there’s one thing I want people to take away from this book, it’s to not be afraid to be yourself even in the midst of grief and loneliness, because the right people will find you. If there’s another thing I want them to take away, it’s to not be afraid of being vulnerable in that grief, because sometimes that’s the only way to heal.”
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10 Must-Read Books That Break the Stigma Around Mental Health

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Check out 10 powerful books on mental health that break the stigma. Discover these must-reads and enrich your perspective today.

Local Author Spotlight: Janice Airhart

By Ainsley Shaw • September 22, 2025
Local author Janice Airhart talks with us about her two memoirs, Mother of My Invention: A Motherless Daughter Memoir and (newly-released) Subject to Change: Teaching and Learning from Teen Moms . Airhart also shares her favorite moments from her writing process and a message she hopes readers take away from her work. Check out her website here .