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Writing Disability

 

Join members Annie Bellassai, Judith McIntosh, and Jule Selbo on Thursday, December 2 at 7 PM for a moderated conversation about Writing Disability.

The recipient of a 2021 Emerging Writer’s Scholarship, Annie Bellassai, a student at U-Mass Dartmouth, was born with a rare disorder. In her application, Annie spoke about her desire to join our community, to develop her craft and get feedback from other writers. “I hope that by becoming a member of Sisters in Crime, I will also be able to encourage other writers to write stories that connect to the disabled community as well.”

As it turns out, two of our members are already doing this. Judith McIntosh has a degenerative joint disease. Multiple surgeries have left her with metal and polymer implants. “I have held up security lines at metal detectors on four continents,” she jokes. Judith serves on the board of North Quabbin Citizen Advocacy, a nonprofit in Central Massachusetts that fosters one-on-one relationships between able-bodied volunteers and vulnerable people with mental impairments and disorders. Her most recent mystery, Judge Hartwell, includes a disabled character.

Jule Selbo’s debut mystery, Ten Days, features a heroine who must learn to cope with a prosthetic leg after a career-ending accident. Jule is a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. She has written for television and film for a few decades and teaches screenwriting and film history at CSU-Fullerton.  Able-bodied herself, Jule has never subscribed to the write-what-you- know philosophy. How did she create a complex heroine who is not defined by her disability? “I didn’t want to gloss over anything, I sought out people who had lost limbs, interviewed clinicians, watched thousands of YouTube videos, read blogs, visited websites of amputees, doctors, companies that build prosthetics, innovators in the robotic limbs arena.” As a result of immersing herself in another character’s reality, Jule said, “I see parts of the world differently—and I hope the readers will too.”



 

When:
Thursday, December 02, 2021, 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM
Where:
Zoom link will be provided closer to the event
Additional Info:
Event Contact(s):
Lisa J Lieberman
Category:
Webinars
Registration is required
Payment In Full In Advance Only
This event is free and is open to the public.
No Fee