KNEE BRACE PRESS

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

mental health

  • A person with long, brown hair, bangs, and black rimmed glasses hides half their face behind a black and brown cat with blue eyes.

    Ghosts

    By

    “I think about ghosts and love./I think about haunted houses and empty spaces.” So begins AM Rodriguez’s ethereal poem, Ghosts, about the grief that haunts us, the longing we can’t escape, and a morbid curiosity the speaker can’t shake.

  • A white woman with short hair wears round glasses and a black sweater. She gazes at the camera. The photo is in black and white.

    An interview with Amba Elieff

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    Amba Elieff spent most of her life a closet poet. Now, she’s put her work out there for all to see in her debut collection, Maiden, Mother, Crone. We spoke with Elieff about sacred spaces, womanhood, and what it means to be in community with other through her work.

  • The picture shows the cover of The Recall Paradox by Julian R. Vaca. The text on the top says, "In this war, memories are weapons."

    Book Excerpt: The Recall Paradox

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    Author Julian R. Vaca is back with the sequel to his YA dystopian debut, The Memory Index, in which alliances are made, memories disappear, and no one is who they seem to be. The Recall Paradox is out April 11, 2023.

  • A white person with yellow-rimmed glasses and long, blonde hair. Their shirt reads, "THE FUTURE IS NONBINARY."

    free.

    By

    Grief is a funny thing. It can be heart wrenching, devastating, or even performative. Jess Bareslow’s poem, free., details how hyperaware they were of how they needed to act after their father’s death.

  • Notes From A 10 a.m. Appointment

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    In which our protagonist enters the Zoom room for a psych evaluation, eager and nervous to uncover the next phase of her healing journey. Poet and author Clara Olivo details what happens when nothing goes as planned.

  • Searching for Bunker Norms

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    It’s the end of the world. Then again, we Spoonies have always been able to adapt. While the non-disabled, richest one percent were hidden underground in bunkers during the catastrophe, a network spearheaded by a disabled woman had secretly gathered to protect the most disregarded of the population.

  • A black and white photo depicts a person with a small smile. They are crossing their arms over a black button up with small white dogs. Their hair is short and they wear round glasses.

    Staying Sparkly

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    Does your anxiety stick to you, like glitter or sand? In their new poem, Staying Sparkly, Sojourner “Hughes” Davidson details their relationship with anxiety and how closely it adheres to their skin, however often they try to wash it away.

  • Summoning Serotonin

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    Sometimes, all we need is a little help, even if that help comes from an unexpected source. Author Amanda Cessor shares with us a fantastical short story about her very real experience with ADHD, anxiety, and depression.

  • An interview with Julian R. Vaca

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    In an alternative 1987, a disease ravages human memories. There is no cure, only artificial recall. We spoke with author Julian R. Vaca about his novel, The Memory Index, the sequel of which comes out in April 2023.

  • An interview with Clara Olivo

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    Clara Olivo’s The Whisper, The Storm and The Light In Between is a poetic memoir of diasporic despair and delight. An autobiographical reflection of the author’s journey as a queer, neurodivergent, disabled woman of color, Olivo’s collection touches on issues of American exceptionalism, race, miscegenation, and cultural memory. Olive is also a previous Knee Brace…