Writer
I am a published writer in academic and mainstream publications on a range of topics including grief and disability.
I am now mulling over an idea to research and write a book exploring the lives of people with disabilities throughout Australia's history, from settlement through to today. History is writ large by people who are confident in asserting their voice; I would like to tease out the stories of those people whose very presence matters, but who have not been - and still do not get to be - heard.
My other emerging area of research interest is the Asian response to disability and the lives of people with disabilities. I am interested in investigating the cultural, social and policy approaches in Asia - in particular, China and Japan - with a view to finding what our respective cultures might contribute to, and learn from, each other.
I have published several articles and book chapters about deafness and deaf people's lives. My essay, 'I Hear With My Eyes' was published by Griffith Review in 2006 and again in 2007 by ABC Books in 'A Revealed Life: Australian writers and their journeys in memoir'.
My doctorate, 'The Art of Being Deaf', explored my relationship between my public deaf-hearing persona and my private deaf self by examining the impact of my deafness on my childhood years, education, work, friendships and love. In my accompanying critical essay, 'Hearsay', I examined representations of deafness and deaf people's lives in memoir and fiction.
My publications on grief include 'Jack's Story' (Allen & Unwin, 1991), my memoir written in the wake of the sudden infant death of my son, and an essay, 'I am a Mother,' published in 'MotherLove 2' (Random House, 1997).
- A Revealed Life - Australian writers and their journeys in memoir.