Kit Kavanagh-Ryan publication – Writing disability in Australia

Kit Kavanagh-Ryan, a PhD student supervised by Clare Bradford and Sue Chen, has recently had a journal article published in a special issue on “Writing disability in Australia” in Australian Literary Studies:

Kavanagh-Ryan, Kit. ‘Who Gets to Survive the Apocalypse? Disability Hierarchy in Post-Disaster Fiction in Australian YA.’ Australian Literary Studies, vol. 37, no. 1, 2022, doi: 10.20314/als.4801bfd4aa.

Kit is also a member of the Literature and its Readers Research Group.

Abstract – extract

…  All fiction creates worlds, but speculative fiction, whether it favours fantasy or science fiction elements, contains worldbuilding. By considering the implications disability hierarchies created for disabled characters in these novels, and how disabled characters exist in these spaces, I am able to draw from disability theory to examine assumptions about the bodies and behaviours of those inhabiting these speculative landscapes and use crip readings to highlight how these texts either reinforce or subvert current understandings of disability, especially disability hierarchy and the subversive potential of interdependence in young adult narrative. . …read more here: https://www.australianliterarystudies.com.au/articles/who-gets-to-survive-the-apocalypse-disability-hierarchy-in-post-disaster-fiction-in-australian-ya