Journal Article
11 November 2025
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Volume 2, Issue 2025 (2025)Read More
Featured Content
Journal Article
5 November 2025
Blackward [book review]
Blackward (2023) is a graphic novel which follows the story of 4 friends who are looking to build Black and queer community. They solicit help from their local bookseller to host a Black zine fair.Current Articles
Journal Article21 January 2025
Brittle Joints [book review]
Brittle Joints is a graphic novel that chronicles author Maria Sweeney's experience with brittle joints and extreme chronic pain.Journal Article21 January 2025
Dragon Age: The Veilguard [video game review]
This review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard discusses the gender and disability and accessibility options for character development and gameplay rather than focusing on the plot of the game.Journal Article21 January 2025
The Architecture of Disability: Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes beyond Access [book review]
This isn’t another critique of accessibility standards in design. Rather, Gissen revolutionizes approaches to architecture, public landscape, and urban planning by centering impairment, allowing for a radical interpretation of the historical built environment, and thereby provides a more inclusive approach to its future.Journal Article22 January 2025
Hear Me [book review]
Hear Me by Kerry O'Malley Cerra is a middle grade novel about a twelve year old girl coming to terms with a hearing loss and fighting for her right to deny a cochlear implant surgery.Journal Article4 April 2025
Cripping Girlhood [book review]
This book studies representations of disabled girlhood in twenty-first century United States media, unpacking messages about care, nationalism, and futurity.Journal Article18 April 2025
Make a Little Wave [book review]
Kerry O'Malley Cerra's Make a Little Wave is an engaging book about thirteen year old Savannah (Sav) who begins a campaign for shark conservation. Along the way, she learns what it means to be an activist and the strength it takes to stick up for an unpopular cause.Journal Article25 April 2025
Dancing After TEN: A Graphic Memoir [book review]
We follow Vivian Chong as she recovers from a rare medical condition, toxic epidermal necrolysis syndrome (TENS), that covered her body in burns and left her both blind and deaf.Journal Article14 May 2025
The Haunting of Alejandra [book review]
This review explores V. Castro’s The Haunting of Alejandra as a powerful portrayal of postpartum depression and generational trauma through the lens of horror and magical realism. Drawing on personal experience, the review highlights how the novel offers an unflinching look at the emotional weight of motherhood and the lasting impact of inherited pain.Journal Article14 May 2025
The Joy of Quitting [book review]
The Joy of Quitting is a day in the life kind of comic of Keiler Roberts where she focuses on child-rearing, relationships, her art, multiple sclerosis, depression, and many other topics.Journal Article6 June 2025
It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth [book review]
It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth focuses on the author/artist’s battle with depression and anxiety—and the overwhelming urge to end her own life. Readers who are dealing with anxiety or depression will recognize themselves over and over again, as they read the graphic novel and identify the myriad of ways they themselves are trying to function and “make it” in a world that doesn’t seem to be built for them—or to understand them.Journal Article10 June 2025
Shrink: Story of a Fat Girl [book review]
Shrink is a graphic memoir and graphic medicine title that chronicles one woman's journey with her fat body. Along the way, she educates the reader about the politics, history, health, medicine, and perspectives of fatness.Journal Article11 June 2025
Interview with Dr. Margaret Price on Crip Spacetime
DisLIS journal editors JJ Pionke and Jess Schomberg interview Dr. Margaret Price about her book Crip Spacetime, her writing process, what the phrase crip spacetime means and how it affects academics with disability.Journal Article26 June 2025
I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together: A Memoir [book review]
Maurice Vellekoop's I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together: A Memoir is a recounting of his realization and embracing of his homosexuality ultimately through getting therapy for his depression.Journal Article2 July 2025
Interview with Maria Sweeney on Brittle Joints
JJ Pionke interviews Maria Sweeney about her book Brittle Joints and her work process as a disabled artist.Journal Article2 July 2025
Interview with Dr. Nicola Griffith on Spear
JJ Pionke interviews Dr. Nicola Griffith about her book Spear, writing with disability, and the $41,000 bathtub.Journal Article10 July 2025
How Could You [book review]
This book review will cover How Could You, the debut graphic novel by Ren Strapp. Although disability is not the main focus of this graphic novel, disability depiction is discussed, alongside the art style, overall narrative, and queer representation.Journal Article15 July 2025
Interview with Dr. Colleen S. Harris on Toothache in the Bone
JJ Pionke interviews Colleen S. Harris about her book Toothache in the Bone, the craft of poetry, and tattoos as pain management.Journal Article21 July 2025
Interview with Dr. Shayda Kafai on Crip Kinship
JJ Pionke and Jess Schomberg interview Shayda Kafai about her book Crip Kinship, how to improve the peer review process to be care-full, and the importance of art and creative works.Journal Article22 July 2025
Interview with Dr. Ashley Shew on Against Technoableism
JJ Pionke interviews Dr. Ashley Shew about her book Against Technoableism, during which they discuss creativity and generative AI, technology tools that disabled people actually want versus what they're told to want, and why everyone needs a shower chair.Journal Article22 July 2025
Tank Chair [book review]
We are introduced to Nagi our wheelchair using assassin, and his adorable younger sister, as they try to figure out how improve the amount of time where he is awake.Journal Article6 August 2025
Interview with Paul Castle on Adoroscopes
JJ Pionke interviews Paul Castle about his book Adoroscopes and his creative process as a visual artist who has a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa.Journal Article6 August 2025
Interview with Melanie Jones and Shayda Kafai on Mad Scholars
JJ Pionke interviews Dr. Melanie Jones and Dr. Shayda Kafai about their new book Mad Scholars: Reclaiming and Reimagining the Neurodiverse Academy, rethinking the publishing process, who influenced their work, and building sustainable Mad communities.Journal Article8 August 2025
Extremity [book review]
This review covers the Extremity comic series by Daniel Warren Johnson, Mike Spicer, and Rus Wooton. In addition to discussing disability representation (as the protagonist, Thea, has her right hand forcibly removed), this review will also focus on the comic's themes, visual style, and hyperviolence.Journal Article8 August 2025
The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott [book review]
The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood is the story of a young artist who is unexpectedly going blind due to retina detachment. She has about two weeks to create ten paintings for an exhibition and she goes on a journey to do just that.Journal Article12 August 2025
Counter-cartographies [book review]
An examination of the work of performance artists as that art relates to pre-DSM 5 diagnostic concepts of autism. French anti-institutionalization activist and experimental filmmaker Fernand Deligny is the artist under primary discussion. Some attention is also paid to the art of Pope.L and Mel Baggs.Journal Article12 August 2025
Shrink: Story of a Fat Girl [book review]
Armed with research, personal experience, and stunning art, Rachel M. Thomas shows readers the experience of being a fat woman and how society regularly views, fears, and tries to control fat bodies.Journal Article12 August 2025
Committed: Remembering Native Kinship in and beyond Institutions [book review]
Committed is a nuanced history of the Canton Indian Insane Asylum.Journal Article20 August 2025
Interview with Dr. Travis Lau on What's Left is Tender
JJ Pionke and Jess Schomberg interview Dr. Travis Chi Wing Lau about his new chapbook What’s Left is Tender, poetic form, bringing a disability ethic to slow scholarship, and taiko drumming for pain management.Journal Article25 August 2025
Stand Up! [book review]
Tori Sharp’s graphic novel Stand Up! follows best friends Clay and Kyle as they navigate the end of middle school, the school play, first crushes, and their podcast. This feel-good story offers an affirming and relatable escape for LGBTQIA+ and neurodiverse middle-grade readers.Journal Article27 August 2025
Interview with Dr. J. Logan Smilges on Crip Negativity
JJ Pionke and Jess Schomberg interview Dr. J. Logan Smilges about their book Crip Negativity, discussing why disabled people deserve to have our lives theorized – how theory can work against simplistic stereotypes to better reflect the nuanced and complicated reality of our lives, and the importance of building capacious communities. We also get early insights into their upcoming work on affective transmission.Journal Article27 August 2025
Interview with Dr. Rachel M. Thomas on Shrink: Story of a Fat Girl
JJ Pionke interviews Dr. Rachel Thomas about her book Shrink, cultural and medical ideas about fatness, and her next planned graphic narratives.Journal Article28 August 2025
Oral History with Christine Moeller
Oral history with Christine Moeller, who talks about working as an academic librarian, transitioning to a doctoral program, and their research on neurodivergent library workers.Journal Article28 August 2025
Die [book review]
This review of Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans's comic series Die offers a general overview as well as an examination of various representations of disability, including post-traumatic stress disorder, physical disability, depression/grief, and gender dysphoria.Journal Article10 September 2025
DisLIS interview with Marieke Nijkamp on Splinter & Ash
JJ Pionke interviews Marieke Nijkamp about their books, focusing on the Splinter & Ash series. The interview also includes discussion about how creating art is an act of hope and why disability and gender diversity representation is so important.Journal Article3 October 2025
Klik Klik Boom [book review]
This review covers Doug Warner's comic series Klik Klik Boom. The review discusses how the non-speaking protagonist is depicted, and there's also discussion of how post-traumatic stress manifests in the protagonist and a supporting character. The review also covers the plot and illustration of the comic.Journal Article10 October 2025
Interview with Kate Bornstein and Caitlin Sullivan on Nearly Roadkill: Queer Love on the Run
JJ Pionke interviews Kate Bornstein and Caitlin Sullivan about their new book, the Nearly Roadkill Reboot, how their writing process has changed since they wrote the original in the mid-1990s, their thoughts on generative AI and storytelling, and their upcoming projects.Journal Article27 October 2025
Destined to Fail [book review]
A deep dive into the eugenical ideas that grounded the work of influential educator and psychologist Carl E. Seashore. While Seashore was working a century ago, the author demonstrates how his ideas continue to influence education today.Journal Article30 October 2025
DisLIS interview with Alice Wong on Disability Visibility
DisLIS editors interview Alice Wong about her disability advocacy and creative process.Journal Article1 November 2025
Interview with Dr. Nnedi Okorafor on Death of the Author
JJ Pionke interviews Nnedi Okorafor about her books Death of the Author, Space Cat, and LaGuardia. They talk about the challenges of explaining disability, the lack of age diversity in books, the magic of the creative process, and cats.Journal Article5 November 2025
Blackward [book review]
Blackward (2023) is a graphic novel which follows the story of 4 friends who are looking to build Black and queer community. They solicit help from their local bookseller to host a Black zine fair.Journal Article11 November 2025
Interview with Dr. Mimi Khúc on dear elia
JJ Pionke interviews Dr. Mimi Khúc about her books dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss and Open in Emergency, how she deliberately incorporated care into her teaching during the chaotic early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the process and purpose of creating a tarot deck rooted in Asian American culture.Most Popular Articles
Journal Article
21 January 2025
Brittle Joints [book review]
Brittle Joints is a graphic novel that chronicles author Maria Sweeney's experience with brittle joints and extreme chronic pain.Journal Article
21 January 2025
The Architecture of Disability: Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes beyond Access [book review]
This isn’t another critique of accessibility standards in design. Rather, Gissen revolutionizes approaches to architecture, public landscape, and urban planning by centering impairment, allowing for a radical interpretation of the historical built environment, and thereby provides a more inclusive approach to its future.Journal Article
21 January 2025
Dragon Age: The Veilguard [video game review]
This review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard discusses the gender and disability and accessibility options for character development and gameplay rather than focusing on the plot of the game.Journal Article
2 October 2024
Oral history interview with Brea McQueen
Oral history interview with librarian Brea McQueen.Journal Article
29 April 2024
Everything is OK [book review]
Review of the book Everything is OK by Debbie Tung.Journal Article
22 January 2025