About the Author
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Author
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (she/they) is a mixed-blood, middle-aged, nonbinary femme disabled and autistic writer, disability and transformative justice cultural and movement worker of Burgher and Tamil Sri Lankan, Irish and Galician ascent. A crip web weaver, couch and porch witch, they are the author and/or co-editor of nine books, including Beyond Survival ((with Ejeris Dixon), Tonguebreaker, Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Dirty River, and Bodymap. A Lambda Literary Award winner who has been shortlisted for the Publishing Triangle five times, they are the winner of Lambda's 2020 Jeanne Cordova Award "honoring a lifetime of work documenting the complexities of queer of color/femme/disabled experience" and are a 2020 Disability Futures Fellow. Raised in rustbelt central Massachusetts and shaped by T'karonto and Oakland, they currently make home in Massachusetts. They are an adaptive trike rider and a triple grand water trine. Their newest book, The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs, will be published in fall 2022.
Related Blog Posts
Tamil Heritage Month: Books by Tamil Authors
Tamil Heritage Month takes place every January. It is intended to increase awareness and appreciation of the rich history of the Tamil community. To celebrate we have curated a list of books written by Tamil authors.
Cover Collage: Disability Pride Month
July is Disability Pride Month! Discover our roundup of books by thirteen spectacular authors.
Reflections on disability culture and identity from the contributors of the Disabled Voices Anthology
Rebel Mountain Press, publisher of The Disabled Voices Anthology —an unapologetic collection of short fiction, memoir, and poetry by disabled writers and artists across Canada, the US, and the UK—recently asked the contributors of the anthology for their perspectives ... Read more
In Review: The Week of April 23rd
This week we found moments of reprieve with our last few poetry cures and got our maps out for Canadian Independent Bookstore Day.
Poetry Cure: Bodymap by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
Poetry Cure: National Poetry Month
Last year we raised our poetic fists for National Poetry Month with Poets Resist, a month-long celebration of poetry as a form of resistance. This year, we're taking a deep breath and preserving our collective strength with Poetry Cure, a series dedicated to poetry as a ... Read more
First Fiction Friday: A One-Handed Novel
Kim Clark inspires humour and sex appeal in her latest A One-Handed Novel (Caitlin Press), fiction channelled by her own experiences with disability. The novel follows protagonist Melanie Farrell, a fortyish woman living with Multiple Sclerosis, as she comes to learn of ... Read more
Top 10: New Words in Our Pride Glossary
It’s Pride weekend this weekend in Toronto: and naturally, we’re preparing by reading some fantastic LGBTQ+ books. We’ve come across some great words and phrases on the way: here are ten for you to include in your own Pride lexicon.
Top 10: Social Justice Booklist
In advance of World Day of Social Justice on February 20, we’re fully embracing the SJW* moniker and recognizing books that further conversations around social justice. Check out our top 10* picks!
*as if this is a pejorative term
*the order of this list is not a reflection ... Read more
Poets of Colour Pick Poets for NPM16
Poetry is a community, without a doubt, but it hasn't always been an inclusive community. We're all the more thrilled, then, to feature eleven poets of colour and poems of their choosing...many times also by poets of colour. No more excuses: reading excellent, diverse poetry ... Read more
