KNEE BRACE PRESS

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

The Magazine

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  • A white woman with dark hair is smiling and looking off-camera. She wears a white, long sleeved shirt.

    Temporarily non-disabled

    By

    “My body holds a secret. It demands/to tell me, but won’t whisper it to you.” Poet Christa Fairbrother is back with a piece about invisible illnesses and the pressure to hide them.

  • A white man with a shaved head and light brown eyes gazing at the camera. He wears a navy hoodie.

    Leverage

    By

    “Now you can’t help thinking that the first call being made is to order beer. You look up at Jerry, knowing you should say something, then look down helplessly at all these pieces of the disassembled frame as if they are parts of a puzzle you know in your heart won’t fit together.”

  • A white woman with long, curly, brown hair. She is wearing a purple sweater and we can see her from the waist up. The background is white.

    An interview with Lillie Lainoff

    By

    For our seventy-fifth post at Knee Brace Press, we interviewed award-winning novelist Lillie Lainoff about POTS rep, feminist retellings, and her future writing plans in the context of her YA debut, One For All.

  • A person in a brown tanktop and a white helmet climbing a rope and smiling at the camera.

    Hiding in Plain Sight: Life With and Without Masks

    By

    “I feel faint. Even a common cold leaves me sick for months and sometimes lands me in the emergency room. I have been assiduously masking since the beginning of the pandemic and so far, to the best of my knowledge, have avoided catching COVID. I will not be able to wear my mask for the…

  • An interview with Etaf Rum

    By

    We spoke to award-winning author Etaf Rum about her latest book, Evil Eye, and her 2019 debut, A Woman Is No Man. In this interview, we discussed mental health, writing as therapy, and Rum’s future plans.

  • A white person with long, blonde hair smiling at the camera. She is wearing a red and white plaid shirt.

    All In My Head

    By

    In her poem, Sarah Steinbacher writes about medical gaslighting, invisible disabilities, and the link between mental and physical health.

  • A white woman with dark hair is smiling and looking off-camera. She wears a white, long sleeved shirt.

    A Villanelle for the Utensils

    By

    Christa Fairbrother’s poem A Villanelle for the Utensils is an ode to spoonies everywhere – and the effort it takes for us to complete the tasks others finish so easily.

  • A white person with dark, curly hair smiling at the camera with her mouth closed. They wear a black shirt.

    A Day in the Life With EDS

    By

    “My chest aches. A deeply centered tightness. A pain in the bones./I fight to breathe, bend or twist.” Poet Hannah Frost lets us in on her life with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

  • The photo is in black and white and depicts a white person with long, dark hair smiling to the right of the shot.

    How Many Steps in a Stairwell

    By

    In her newest poem for Knee Brace Press, the prolific Mandy Beattie asks, “How many footsteps in a full stop?”

  • A white woman with light brown hair smiling with her mouth closed. The photo is a selfie. Also pictured: a bookcase in the background and a (really cute) brown and black cat.

    Our Disabilities

    By

    In her new poem, April McCloud describes her experience as a disabled person having disabled friends.