Finding a Face for My Invisible Illness
I could only acknowledge my thyroid condition from sly, sideways angles—a hobbit stealing from a sleeping dragon’s hoard.
Lorraine is a journalist and fiction writer. Previously a staff writer for Smithsonian Magazine, she covers history, archaeology, evolution, and the weird world. She has received fellowships from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources and the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Lorraine's first narrative nonfiction book, The Last Voyageurs, (Pegasus Books/April 2016) was a finalist for the Chicago Book of the Year award. Her fiction has appeared in The Massachusetts Review and Literary Laundry. She's currently at work on two novels about friendship and belonging.
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Hayao Miyazaki’s Characters Help Me Grieve My Chronic Illness
“Howl’s Moving Castle” and “The Legend of Korra” are about protagonists living with magic and fighting for the fate of the world. To me, they’re also metaphors for dynamic disability.
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You can study all you want, but it’s only in the act of doing that you learn what’s right and what isn’t.
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Beauty and its pursuit can be art, a delight, a terrific party. But a party you must attend every day isn’t a party at all. It’s an unpaid job.
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When I tried to skateboard as a kid, the neighborhood boys refused to welcome me. Now, women and gender-diverse people are creating skateboarding communities all over the world.
Going from Other to Local in Mumbai
I was certain my appearance would mask my secret: that I didn’t belong.