Disabled, But
Kirsten Deane

April 2026
80 pp
200mm x 130mm with flaps
ISBN: 9781049258331

In her debut collection, Kirsten Deane tells the story of her disobedient and uncontrollable body, and sharing it with her family, her community and her lovers.

Finely poised and subtly subversive, the poems in Disabled, But explore Deane’s experiences of self-love and internalised hatred; of being a young woman who wants to shrink even as she grows; of learning to live with pain and discomfort as constant close companions – even as trusted friends.

Shying away from neither body horror nor tenderness, Deane writes from a place not simply close to the bone, but from the very marrow. Accessible and estranging, Disabled, But is evidence of a powerful and essential new voice in South African poetry.

Kirsten Deane was born in Cape Town in 1998. She holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing, both from the University of the Western Cape.

An avid disability researcher and activist, she is also lead editor for English Alive, South Africa’s oldest publication for young writers.

She lives in Cape Town. This is her first book.