Celebrate Disability Pride Month This July!
Every July, AWP recognizes Disability Pride Month to highlight the importance of working toward a more accessible and inclusive world. Below, find articles from The Writer’s Chronicle, past AWP events, educational resources, and upcoming online events related to Disability Pride Month. To find and order books about disability, check out our Disability Pride Month Reading List.
From The Writer’s Chronicle
Unlikely Cocreator: Disability as an Expansive Force in Writing by Kate Crane, Petra Lord, and Addie Tsai, June 2026
Writing Sick for the Sick: Embracing My Chronically Ill Audience by Eshani Surya, December 2025
Rereading Flowers for Algernon by George Estreich, August 2025
It Takes Nerve: Unlearning the Ableist Writing Workshop by Sarah Fawn Montgomery, April 2025
Mirrors and Reflections: A Conversation with Poets from the Propel Disability Series by Stephen Kuusisto with Lisa M. Dougherty, Ona Gritz, Anne Kaier, Daniel Simpson, and Nathan Spoon, April 2025
Close Escapes: Or, This Is the Time for Poetry by Stephen Kuusisto, April 2025
The Big Conversation: Writing (and Publishing) Disability by Jessie Male, Keah Brown, M. Leona Godin, and Sonya Huber, December 2024
Audible Activism in American Sign Language Poetry by Delicia Daniels, September 2023
Writing the Story of Mental Illness for Young Readers by Ann Jacobus and Nancy Bo Flood, April 2022
What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Identity by Eileen Cronin, Summer 2020
The Lyric Mode: Crip Time & Its Metaphors by Emily Rose Cole, April 2020
Disability in Children’s Literature: Not an Anomaly—An Imperative by Melissa Hart, Brian Tashima, Rachel DeWoskin, and Naseem Jamnia, February 2019
Rewatch AWP Events
#AWP26 “They’ll Never Write a Poem”: Neurodivergent Poets on Their Writing Lives, Sponsored by Sarabande
Virtual AWP: Writer to Writer Conversations & Readings with Mentor Eileen Cronin
#AWP23 Mutant, Monster, Misfit, Myself: Writing the Disabled/Chronically Ill Body, Sponsored by AWP
#AWP22 Poetry & Disability Justice, Sponsored by Cave Canem & Zoeglossia
#AWP22 Since My Body: Discovery and Embodiment of Disabled Voices, Sponsored by Zoeglossia
#AWP22 Writing Is for Everyone! Ways to Make the Writing Classroom More Accessible ASL & Captions
#AWP21 Disability’s Influence on Literature: Realism as a Craft Concept, Sponsored by AWP
#AWP20 My Heart Is Not Blind: On Blindness and Perception, Sponsored by Trinity University
#AWP19 The Strengths of Complexity and the Power of Limitations: Writers on Disability
Resources
Visit the Americans with Disabilities Act website to learn more about the act and find a range of resources.
Visit the American Bar Association’s website to read about diversity within the disabled community and how to be an ally.
Learn about the differences between accessible design and inclusive design from Toptal.
Upcoming Online Events
All events are listed in ET.
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
1:00 p.m. On the Lived Experience of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities
This presentation, based on Anne-Marie Callus’s book Kith and Kin and the Lived Experience of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, discusses how the selfhood of people with intellectual disabilities is deeply affected by the dispositions of others toward them and also what these close interpersonal connections tell us about humanity itself.
Friday, July 7, 2026
12:00 noon Language & Disability
In this training from the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, participants will gain tools for using language that is more thoughtful, empowering, and grounded in disability justice.
Thursday, July 9, 2026
7:00 p.m. Disability in Horror - A Virtual Reading & Discussion for Disability Pride
This reading and conversation features debut horror authors Grace Daly (The Scald-Crow, Creature Publishing, 2025) and G.G. Silverman (The Blood Year Daughter, Creature Publishing, 2026), moderated by Patrick Antenucci, cofounder of NightLight Books, Cleveland’s disability-focused pop-up bookshop.
Sunday, July 12, 2026
10:00 p.m. Speculative Poetry Reading for National Disability Pride Month
Join Speculative Sundays for a unique poetry reading with Ennis Rook Bashe, Akua Lezli Hope, John C. Mannone, and Silvatiicus Riddle! Dive into the world of speculative poetry that explores imagination, identity, and pride.
Sunday, July 19, 2026
7:00 p.m. Special Virtual Documentary Night! All Riders
In honor of Disability Pride Month, this gathering will discuss the documentary All Riders, which is about the battle for accessibility in the New York City Subway. Watch the film for free ahead of time, and be sure to register for the discussion and special guest Q&A with Victor Dias Rodrigues and Sasha Blair-Goldensohn.