30th Anniversary Deaf + Disabled Writer Commissions with Oli Isaac, Jamila Prowse + Ellie Spirrett

An inspiring showcase of bold and original new writing from D/deaf and disabled writers, hosted by Ayesha Chouglay and Joe Rizzo Naudi.

The title Deptford Literature Festival in chunky black lettering outlined in bright yellow, sits on a background in blue and pale blue. It’s an illustration that includes an image of a hand with a pen, a closed fist, and the words ‘whose stories are told?’, ‘resistance’, ‘community’, and ‘history’.

Free to attend. BOOK VIA EVENTBRITE HERE. 

Celebrate the voices of D/deaf and disabled writers with this event, showcasing new work commissioned as part of Spread the Word’s 30th anniversary celebrations. You’ll hear powerful new work from Oli Isaac, Jamila Prowse and Ellie Spirrett, offering fresh perspectives often left unheard. The event will be hosted by Ayesha Chouglay and Joe Rizzo Naudi who selected the commissioned writers. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience inclusive storytelling and engage in a thought-provoking conversation about the future of diverse and accessible literature.

You’ll also be able to pick up a free copy of the Festival Anthology which features all three commissions.

Supported by Spread the Word.

Access information:

  • All of our in-person events Friday-Sunday, including this one, will be BSL Interpreted for audiences that require it. For workshops, you will be asked when booking your free ticket if you require the services of a BSL interpreter. For all workshops where one or more attendees require BSL interpretation, we will arrange for an interpreter to be there.
  • This event is wheelchair accessible, with accessible toilets.
  • Deptford Lounge has Changing Place facilities, an induction loop and assistance dogs are welcome. For more information: deptfordlounge.org.uk/access
  • A quiet space is available during the day at Deptford Lounge, in the Music Room, on the first floor.
  • If you require additional access provision in order to attend or take part in the Festival, for example, larger print handouts at workshops, or a scribe, please get in touch before the Festival day at: [email protected]
  • If you require assistance on the Festival day itself, please come to the Festival Hub in the foyer of Deptford Lounge where we will be happy to help you.

For more information about the access provision available, please visit: spreadtheword.org.uk/access-at-deptford-literature-festival

MORE INFORMATION AND BOOK TICKETS VIA EVENTBRITE

Featured artists

Oli Isaac

Festival artist


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Oli Isaac is a writer based in London. Oli’s passion for writing stems from growing up with a severe stutter and experiencing how language can fail us. Currently, Oli is developing their debut audio play as a recipient of Audible Theatre’s Emerging Playwrights Fund. They also teach poetry workshops, most recently with The Learning Cooperative. In 2024, Oli won the Verve Poetry Festival Competition.

Ellie Spirrett

Festival artist


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Ellie Spirrett is a poet, originally from Leeds, who started performing in Leicester and now lives in Greenwich. Ellie was a member of the Roundhouse collective in 2023/2024 and is now part of the Spread the Word Young Writers Collective. She writes about disability and ableism, chronic illness and the loneliness epidemic.

Jamila Prowse

Festival artist


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Jamila Prowse is an artist and writer, propelled by curiosity and a desire to understand herself. Informed by her lived experience of disability and mixed race ancestry, her work is research driven and indebted to Black feminist and crip scholars. She is an active participant in a rich and growing contemporary disabled artistic community and has been ongoingly researching, programming and creating around cripping the art world since 2018. Her writing has appeared in Frieze, Art Monthly and elsewhere.

Joe Rizzo Naudi

Festival artist


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Joe Rizzo Naudi is a London-based writer and facilitator. In 2022 he was awarded a London Writers Award by Spread the Word and received an Arts Council England grant to develop literature and performance projects exploring cane use. His writing, film and theatre work has been performed or exhibited at the Wellcome Collection, the BFI Southbank, Brixton House, Vault Festival, Rich Mix and the ICA. He is an AHRC-funded PhD student at Royal Holloway, researching fiction, artwork description and the creative potential of blindness. He has an MA in Creative & Life Writing from Goldsmiths.

Ayesha Chouglay

Festival artist


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Ayesha Chouglay is a writer and multimedia artist with a passion for storytelling. Her work often focuses on illness and disability, bringing emotion to overly clinical subjects, and opening up safe spaces for conversation. She is interested in the ways that disability changes our perception of the world, and works with perceived imperfections to create new ways of looking. She has shown her poetry and artwork in many spaces, including within a Poetry Jukebox at Belfast International Arts Festival, at Mr W et al, a celebratory event exploring art and disability in Hackney Wick, and in Deaf Experience, an online short film screening of work by deaf and hard-of hearing creators, organised by The Film Bunch. She enjoys working with other creative people, and has recently been working as the producer for the Creative Voices, Activist Voices Exhibition for Fun Palaces. Her background is in Fine Art, and she feels that this encourages new perspectives within her writing.