Awards Eligibility 2022

So, this has been a full year for me, even though my name is only on one book. Since that book happens to be an anthology where I am co-editor, I will already take that as a win! It’s not the quantity, but the quality, as they say. And in the case of this collection, we have both!

Books

Book cover: a watercolour of a brick wall in teal, brown, and beige bricks. Black graffiti says “Nothing without US.” And dark orange-red graffiti says “TOO.” Editors and author names are also on the cover.

Nothing Without Us Too is the second book of Talia C. Johnson’s and my disability fiction series where the authors and their protagonists are disabled, d/Deaf, Blind or visually impaired, neurodivergent, Spoonie, and/or they manage mental illness.

This multi-genre collection has fantasy, space opera, romance, paranormal, and a vampire story that takes a bite out of expected tropes. It also has realistic/literary fiction. But whether LitFic or SpecFic, the characters are relatable and their journeys are unforgettable.

Produced during a pandemic where in real life we disabled and higher-risk creatives were pummelled nearly daily with eugenics-based messaging about how only we were at risk for serious illness, the title of this work feels a declaration for society to remember us in publishing and in this world. Nothing without us, too, folks!

Available at Chapters-Indigo and these online booksellers.

Released: September 2022

Poetry

I versed this year!

Adrift, by Cait Gordon (Polar Borealis Issue 21, May 2022)

This short space opera poem is a metaphor for what neurotypical publishing circles can feel like when one is a neurodivergent person. I drew upon an experience of being at a crossroads several years ago, then realizing the path I had to take. It can often seem like being adrift for a while, until one finds one’s footing. Or the course one must plot!

Here is where you can read the poem. The magazine is a PDF.

That’s it! Here’s anticipating what next year will bring!

Have a happy and safe holiday season.

Cheers!

Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the ’Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and the forthcoming Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Cait also founded the Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the multi-genre disability fiction anthologies Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.

Featured image by Pixabay on Pexels.com