5. LEAH LAKSHMI PIEPZNASAMARASINHA

Leah is our go-to for books prioritising disabled voices and concerns. Their work, primarily non-fiction, focuses on the experiences of queer and trans people of colour, the intersections between colonialism and violence, and disability rights. Some staff favourites include 2018’s Care Work, a series of essays exploring the politics and realities of disability justice, whilst also putting forward the tools needed to imaging a more accessible, compassionate future; and 2023’s The Future Is Disabled, a provocative look into the status of disability rights in the wake of Covid-19, Trump and the rise of fascism. A poet, a performance artist, an activist, and a healer, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha’s work manages to simultaneously critique and tackle the harsh, and often deadly, realities of queer disabled folks of colour, whilst also offering hope and tools for a better future for all.