KNEE BRACE PRESS

A place for stories about chronic illness, disability, mental health, and neurodivergence.

mental health is health

  • A white man with shoulder-length white hair and a white beard.

    For Rief

    By

    In this poem about grief and death, poet Alan Abrams tells us what it’s like to watch a friend fade away, knowing you could be next.

  • A white woman taking a mirror selfie. She is smiling at the camera. She is holding phone, which is purple, and wears a shirt with Adam Driver's face on it several times over.

    Stitch by Stitch

    By

    “I’ll spend my whole life/Disentangling from you/That’s all fine/I can handle it.”

  • Invalid Invalid

    By

    Eli Underwood is a writer, organizer, and archivist living with CPTSD, ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and Long Covid. Read their poem, Invalid Invalid.

  • Chaos Confetti

    By

    For our one hundredth post at Knee Brace Press, poet Casey Sharp writes about her experience with ADHD.

  • An Asian man smiling with his mouth closed and looking at the camera. He has short, black hair and is wearing a black shirt and glasses. He is standing against a white wall.

    After the Collapse

    By

    Brian Lee is a writer and poet from Singapore who scribbles when he should be having lunch. Read his latest poem, After the Collapse.

  • An Asian man smiling with his mouth closed and looking at the camera. He has short, black hair and is wearing a black shirt and glasses. He is standing against a white wall.

    When I Was A Monster

    By

    “I saw all the lights in my dreams/But nobody dared to approach me/Because I didn’t know how/To use my words.”

  • A white woman with gray hair smiling with her mouth closed at the camera.

    Insanity Camp

    By

    “I make light with a lantern made of papier-mache/It burns me as it shows the way/To a one-star resort with a welcoming glow/Leave the light on for me/Thinking makes it so.”

  • An Asian man smiling with his mouth closed and looking at the camera. He has short, black hair and is wearing a black shirt and glasses. He is standing against a white wall.

    The Trees

    By

    In his poem, The Trees, Brian Lee muses on questions of nature, the human mind, and neurodiversity.

  • A photo in black and white. A white man wearing a hat with a moustache gazes at the camera. There are water droplets on the lens.

    An interview with Colin Dardis

    By

    “I certainly can be guilty of black-and-white thinking at times, which is a common neurodivergent trait: something is ultimately right or wrong. Writing is a way to help me question that and find the gray in-between.”

  • An interview with Priyanka Taslim

    By

    While Bangladeshi teen Zahra Khan’s plans for financial security this summer involve working long hours at Chai Ho and saving up for college writing courses, Amma is convinced that all Zahra needs is a “good match,” Jane Austen-style. We spoke with author Priyanka Taslim about her debut novel, The Love Match.