Drowning in a puddle

The anxiety of not being enough

Featured in

  • Published 20240806
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-98-6 
  • Extent: 216pp
  • Paperback, ePUB, PDF

‘I DON’T THINK I can enter that,’ mumbles the young woman. She’s sitting at a round desk with seven other people and I’m standing at the front of the room, cosplaying as someone who knows what they’re doing. I’ve been invited to facilitate this workshop for young disabled writers – to inspire them and share my experiences as an emerging writer.

‘I don’t want to take an opportunity away from someone who needs it more,’ the woman continues. ‘I just wouldn’t be seen as disabled enough. Thank you for telling me, though.’

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

More from author

A fair game for all

GR OnlineWhen a disabled writing student tells me they won’t submit their work for publication because they fear being rejected for not being enough, I always find myself wishing that the publishing industry had the time and empathy to reply more thoroughly to these marginalised voices.

More from this edition

the road of ghosts

FictionGraeme works with me almost every day of each school holidays. He conducts sessions that stretch from an hour into two. He teaches me how to shoot; he splinters my form down into nothing and then restructures it until it is exact. Fingertips: the ball slides through the air into the ring. He shuffles after each rebound, his returning pass precise. Graeme pours himself into me. He is patient. He is generous. He is firm, like a grandfather.

The great divide

In ConversationIn the ’80s, and maybe the early ’90s, fashion was a political statement just like art was…and real art wasn’t about selling out or succeeding in a mainstream context; it was the opposite. The whole idea was that you didn’t want to conform. Anyone who was trying to make money off your art or helping you make money was corrupt or compromised. The last thing you did as an artist or a writer in the ’80s was self-publicise – it was so naff, it wasn’t done. Street cred was what mattered. And I’ve been watching, with social media and the internet, this 180-degree shift over the last few decades.

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.