“I write lying down”
In this Q&A, Beyond Ability program head Abhishek Anicca reflects on disability, literature, and why a dedicated mentorship for disabled writers matters.
“Asked to picture a writer, most people would imagine someone sitting in a chair and writing at a desk, but scoliosis prevents me from sitting in a chair for long hours.”
Hi everyone,
Today, we’re proud to introduce a program close to our hearts: Beyond Ability. Like everything we do at South Asia Speaks, Beyond Ability is a free literary mentorship that pairs exceptional emerging writers with established authors for a year. To be eligible, writers must be unpublished and working on a significant project, such as a novel or a nonfiction book.
In addition to one-on-one mentorship, fellows have access to a rich roster of masterclasses, craft workshops, and a supportive community of SAS Fellows. What sets Beyond Ability apart is its flexible structure and the fact that it is led by writer, poet, and performer Abhishek Anicca, author of The Grammar of My Body. With Beyond Ability, Abhishek has helped create a space where disabled writers can develop their work on their terms.
In this Q&A, Abhishek reflects on how Beyond Ability differs from traditional writing spaces, how his journey informs his mentoring, and why amplifying disabled voices is not just necessary, but urgent.
Hi Abhishek, thanks so much for taking the time to chat! Should we start with the basics? What is Beyond Ability, and how is it different from other writing mentorship programs?
Beyond Ability is a mentorship program for South Asian writers living with a disability—whether physical, sensory, neurological, psychosocial, or related to chronic illness or a rare disease. We also welcome writers with learning disabilities, including those whose conditions may not be formally recognised as disabilities in their countries. At Beyond Ability, we’re especially committed to supporting disabled writers from marginalised caste, class, and gender backgrounds. The flexible program can be tailored to meet each fellow’s access needs. There’s nothing else like it in South Asia.
What gaps is this program addressing?
There are very few writing programs in South Asia that are welcoming to writers with disabilities. Disabled individuals remain invisible in arts and cultural spaces, not just in writing. This program is a space where disabled writers can find encouragement and the environment to work on their manuscripts, attend masterclasses by established writers, and build networks with other young writers.
“Disabled writers bring a unique perspective to lived and imaginary experiences. Our bodies and minds allow us to interact with the craft of writing with a certain empathy and openness that protests normativity.”
You’re not only the mentor for Beyond Ability but also a writer, performer, and editor deeply engaged with disability narratives. How does your own experience shape how you approach mentoring?
Being a writer with a disability can be challenging in a society which embodies able-bodied values and mirrors certain ideals of productivity and efficiency. Even the imagined idea of who a writer is and how they write is very able-bodied. For example, if you were told to picture a writer, most people would imagine someone sitting in a chair and writing on a desk.
Other forms of impediment, like bad physical or mental health, have a disproportionate impact on a disabled person's Ability to write. Even if they manage to write, they struggle to put their work out without a network. Everyone associated with our program has a certain level of empathy and kindness to understand that every individual's ability is different.
That said, a writer must learn to write, adapt, and produce work while navigating these rough waters. Our shared experiences of coping and healing while trying to write can play a significant role in that.
Beyond Ability is open to writers across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and translation. What kinds of writing or storytelling are you especially excited to support?
I think disabled writers bring a unique perspective to lived and imaginary experiences. Our bodies and minds allow us to interact with the craft of writing with a particular empathy and openness that protests normativity. This allows us to produce a kind of newness in perspective and craft, which is invaluable to literature. It also gives us an agency to create and sustain our worlds and to tell stories enriched by our point of view.
There are not enough narratives of disabled people across intersections of gender, caste and class and even across disabilities. Many disabilities remain underrepresented. It would be wonderful if that could change through this program, and the writing world opens itself to unheard voices.
“Beyond Ability is a space where disabled writers can find encouragement and the environment to work on their manuscripts, attend masterclasses by established writers, and build networks.”
The program encourages applicants to list any accommodations they need. Can you share a bit about the idea behind this?
Well, this should happen with every program. Across sectors, there is a need to acknowledge that bodies have different access needs. This is true not only for disabled bodies but also for able-bodied ones. Accommodations enrich spaces with diversity and allow underrepresented voices to bloom. A culture of inclusivity should be an extension of any culture. It should be the norm rather than the exception.
What kind of commitment does the mentorship involve?
It depends on the participants and where they want to go with their writing. I am open to meeting or talking to them whenever they need me. But writing requires a certain degree of work done in solitude. To become a writer, you must produce a body of work. That is something I keep telling myself, too. Once you get a certain amount of writing done, we can discuss the possibilities or flaws of the text and think of the path ahead. My role is to be present and hold space for them whenever they need me to. Their passion, ambition and perseverance must define their writing journeys. The mentor and the program can be a support system that can make writing and publishing easier.
“Accommodations enrich spaces with diversity and allow underrepresented voices to bloom.”
Who should apply? Is this only for people writing explicitly about disability, or is it broader than that?
Anyone who identifies as someone with a visible or invisible disability or chronic illness can apply for the program. And no. Disabled people are also just people. They can and should write about anything they want. There is no pressure to write about disability. They should, however, know the direction in which they wish to travel. Other than that, there are no preconditions.
I believe if disabled people write fiction, even if they don’t have any disabled characters or themes of disability, it is still protesting the able-bodied gaze by challenging normativity. Some forms of writing are made richer by the writer having embodied the experience of disability. For example, in speculative fiction, disabled writers have experiences of body, mind and space that differ from the able-bodied world, which can open up imagined worlds that defy normativity. In that sense, the canvas is vast and writers can paint something familiar or strange. It’s up to them.
How do you see Beyond Ability fitting into the larger landscape of disability and literary work in South Asia?
There is a lot of work to be done. New books and essays from diverse voices with unique stories must see the light of day. Beyond Ability can act as an ignition, a starting point for those voices to grow. It is also an opportunity to connect such voices with the larger literary world and allow them to explore the landscape of South Asian and global literature. New voices can enrich literature and open up socio-political contours that haven’t been explored.
“I hope Fellows end up with a manuscript that can shed light on an unexplored aspect of human existence.”
What do you hope this next cohort of Beyond Ability writers walks away with by the end of the program?
I hope they discover their voice through their mentorship. I also hope Fellows end up with a manuscript that can shed light on an unexplored aspect of human existence or add to the body of South Asian literature embedded in progressive disability politics and that challenges all forms of ableism. Of course, it would be good to see some of Beyond Ability's participants published in South Asia and worldwide. But even if the program doesn’t help them immediately produce work, I hope it gives them the confidence to become writers.
Finally, because we’re writers, we must ask: What books are you loving right now?
I am reading Han Kang’s We Do Not Part and just finished Samantha Harvey's Orbital. In addition, I am reading selected poetry by Louise Glück and Nikki Giovanni.
Thanks so much, Abhishek. We appreciate you and all your work!
And thank you, readers, for staying with us. If you think you may be eligible to apply—or know someone who might be a good fit—please help spread the word. Applications for the Class of 2026 open on September 1, and the link will go live then. The program is open to writers working on a project, not just an idea, so keep those sample pages ready!
Until next time,
Zehra Khan for South Asia Speaks.