ARCHIVE FOR Why I Write

In this series, "Why I Write," members of the Grub community share what compels them to put words onto paper day after day. In this edition, Vilissa Thompson talks about writing as advocacy work.

I write for the Black disabled girls and women who wished that someone would be their voice. That is what drove me into disability advocacy.

Being Black, disabled, and female has shaped every aspect of my life from the moment I came out of the womb

In this series, "Why I Write," members of the Grub community share what compels them to put words onto paper day after day. In this edition, YAWP student Zach Sclar shares twelve of the reasons why he writes.

1. Because I can’t read 24/7.
 
2. Because my dog can only play fetch and Frisbee for so long.
 
3. Because I can’t spend my life on social media.

In this series, "Why I Write," members of the Grub community share what compels them to put words onto paper day after day. In this edition, Grace Lapointe describes the power of taking back her own story.

Growing up with cerebral palsy, I felt like I had a type of dual citizenship that allowed me to relate to people with or without disabilities. At physical therapy and doctors’ visits, I met other children with disabilities

In this series, "Why I Write," members of the Grub community share what compels them to put words onto paper day after day. In this edition, instructor Judah Leblang talks about reclaiming his past through writing. Judah will be teaching Jumpstart Your Nonfiction this fall.

I jokingly tell my students, if and when they ask me about my writing practice, that I write under two conditions: when I have a firm (non-negotiable) deadline, and when the pain of not writing surpasses the pain of doing so. In other words, in my fifteen years of writing professionally, I’ve …

In this series, "Why I Write," members of the Grub community share what compels them to put words onto paper day after day.

As a disabled woman of color scanning the media landscape, I typically find a scarcity of supply when searching for stories that mirror my experience. Often when a disability-related story makes the radar, it approaches the subject from one of two angles, pity or “pedestal,” both of which rely on objectifying the person with a disability rather than using a comprehensive lens