The Society of Authors has announced that a prize encouraging greater positive representation of disability in literature has re-opened for submissions.
The Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI) Literary Prize is open to authors with a disability and/or chronic illness. Submissions must contain a disabled or chronically ill character or characters and the overall prize fund is £2,000.
A report published last year by Arkbound Foundation found that, despite some recent progress, disability remains under-represented in publishing. Although one fifth of the UK population is disabled, the report cited ‘a lack of authentic, realistic stories concerning people with disabilities.’
Research published into the representation of disabled people in children’s books shows that just 10% of books published in a 12-month period featured disabled people in some way. The Reflecting Disability Study, funded by Arts Council England (ACE), also found only a narrow range of conditions were represented, and many disabled characters appeared only in the background of stories.
The ADCI Literary Prize was founded in 2022 by author Penny Batchelor and publisher Clare Christian, together with the Society of Authors, to address such issues.
Penny, who writes domestic noir psychological thrillers published by Embla Books, said: ‘Culture should reflect all of us in society and throughout my life as a bookworm, disabled or chronically ill characters have been notably absent unless they were magically cured, did something miraculous, were bitter and evil, or died to provide the novel’s pathos. Clare and I are on a mission to change that.’
The ADCI Literary Prize is biennial, alternating with the ADCI Short Story Prize, and this year will cover books published between 1 November 2024 and 31 October 2026. The winner will be announced at the SoA Awards next June.
The prize is generously sponsored by Arts Council England, ALCS, the Drusilla Harvey Memorial Fund, and the Professional Writing Academy.
You can find out more at https://societyofauthors.org/
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