Nothing Without Us Too

Nothing Without Us Too follows the theme of Nothing Without Us (a 2020 Prix Aurora Award finalist), featuring more stories by authors who are disabled, d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing, Blind or visually impaired, neurodivergent, Spoonie, and/or who manage mental illness. The lived experiences of their protagonists are found across many demographics--such as race, culture, financial status, religion, gender, age, and/or sexual orientation. We want to present these stories because diversity is reality, and it belongs in literary and genre fiction.

So, whether we're being welcomed to Sensory Hell by hotel staff, witnessing a stare-down between a convenience store worker and an arrogant vampire, or unsure if our social media account is magic, these tales can teleport us elsewhere yet resonate deep within.

Cait Gordon is an autistic, disabled, and queer Canadian writer of humorous speculative fiction that celebrates diversity. She is the author of Life in the 'Cosm, The Stealth Lovers, and Iris and the Crew Tear Through Space (2023). Her short stories appear in Alice Unbound: Beyond Wonderland, We Shall Be Monsters, Space Opera Libretti, and Stargazers: Microtales from the Cosmos. Cait also founded The Spoonie Authors Network and joined Talia C. Johnson to co-edit the Nothing Without Us anthology, a 2020 Prix Aurora Award finalist, whose authors and protagonists are disabled, d/Deaf, neurodivergent, Spoonie, and/or they manage chronic illness, and/or mental illness. She reunited with Talia to co-edit Nothing Without Us Too.

Kohenet Talia C. Johnson is a multi-faceted woman who is transgender, autistic, Jewish, queer, and more than the sum of her parts. She was ordained a Kohenet Priestess in August 2019, the first transgender woman in the program. Her work centres on bridging faith and queer communities, facilitating workshops, educating, speaking, writing, one-on-one coaching, counselling, and mentoring. Talia has worked as a sensitivity editor for queer and trans representation, and her poem, Holy Love, appears in the Resilience anthology (Heartspark Press). She also sits on the executive of A4A Ontario, an autistic-led self-advocacy group. Talia joined Cait Gordon to co-edit Nothing Without Us and Nothing Without Us Too.