News
T
here is a popular phrase among people with dis-
abilities across the United States: “nothing about us
without us.” As the 30th anniversary of the Ameri-cans with Disabilities Act approaches in July, a spate of new
and forthcoming titles suggests that this idea may be taking
hold in the publishing industry.
In Being Heumann (Beacon, out now), disability civilrights leader Judith Heumann vividly describes how dis-
ability rights activists fought for changes that were resisted
by many but are common sense today, including curb cuts,
elevator regulations, and universal special education. Born
in Brooklyn in 1949, Heumann contracted polio as a child
and has used a wheelchair since. In the ’70s, she led a major
sit-in—the subject of the newly released Netflix documen-
tary Crip Camp—that paved the way for the ADA, and she
later rose to positions of prominence, serving as a U.S.
assistant secretary for education and later in the State
Department as the first special advisor for international
disability rights.
What she hadn’t done was
write a book. “People for years
have been telling me to write a
book,” Heumann said. “I never
thought that would happen. I’m
a good storyteller, but I’m not a
confident writer.”
In 2018, Heumann was con-
nected with writer Kristen Joiner
and the two came up with a pro-
cess. Heumann told stories that
Joiner took down and crafted,
but first Joiner
had to confront
her own ableist
views.
“I dismissed
the project,”
said Joiner,
who initially
found Heu-
mann’s story
uninteresting.WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 11New Works by Writers with
Disabilities Hit Publishers’ Lists
But then Joiner
reflected on how her
dismissal sounded akin
to the excuses people
use to defend casual
racism and sexism. “We
don’t tire of Martin
Luther King Jr. stories,
but it’s interesting that
Judy’s stories didn’t get
categorized under the
same umbrella,” she
said. A second reckon-
ing with Heumann’s
achievements chal-
lenged Joiner’s assump-
tions, leading her to a complete
reversal and to coauthorship of
the book.
The result is a work that is
being considered for film deals,
and major acclaim for Heumann,
who made an appearance in early
March on the Daily Show with
Trevor Noah. Heumann said
more is needed. “There are more
books that are coming out [about
people with disabilities], there
is more attention being paid, but I think in reality we should
be much further than we are today.” She also wants to see
greater representation of a diverse spectrum of people with
disabilities working in the publishing industry.
That diversity is the underpinning of the 37 personal
accounts in Alice Wong’s anthology Disability Visibility:
First Person Stories from the 21st Century (Vintage, June).
Wong, the founder of the Disability Visibility Project and a
cofounder of the voting rights movement #CripTheVote,
was born with a neuromuscular disability and has made it
a mission to connect the diverse voices of disabled people
who appear in the anthology and project them into public
conversation.
“At the heart of it, I am a fan of disabled writers and culture,”Alice Wong© EDDIEHERNANDEZPHOTOGRAPHYJudith Heumann© RICKGUIDOTTIFORPOSITIVEEXPOSURE