Rosemary Sutcliff , internationally-acclaimed writer of historical novels and books for children, wrote thirty years ago about living with disabilities for the ‘Emotions in Focus’ exhibition of erotic art by disabled people which was curated to celebrate The International Year of Disabled People in 1981, at  The Roundhouse, London (UK).

Career-wise, I’m one of the lucky ones. My job, as a writer of books, is one of the few in which physical disability presents hardly any problems. I would claim that it presents no problems at all but my kind of book needs research, and research is more difficult for a disabled person. I am less able to see for myself or dig priceless information out of deeply hidden archives. I have to rely more on other people’s help and on libraries. And even libraries can present problems – like one which shall be nameless – which is very proud of its ramp to its entrance but keeps its entire reference department upstairs, with, of course, no lift. Still, I am one of the lucky ones – not for me the heart-breaking business of convincing employers that I am employable. I work at home and if I produce a book which the publisher considers worth publishing, it gets published.

But there are drawbacks. Read More »