Dear Disability Diary

You’re writing in your diary before you go to sleep. How did disability shape your day? 

Tell us about the access barriers you encountered, the comments people made, or the moments of joy or despair that you felt as you navigate the world around you, whether that’s in school, work, relationships or anywhere else.

Send us a diary entry of up to 500 words:

• We will publish our five favourite entries.
• We will pay £100 for published entries.
• The deadline is 20th July 2026, 11am BST.

If you have any questions or accessibility needs please contact Peter.

Contents

• About Disability Debrief
• Prompt
• What we're looking for
• What to know
• Make a submission

About Disability Debrief

Disability Debrief is a weekly newsletter that explores the world through a disability lens. If you don't get it in your inbox, sign-up here.

We can feature original work by writers and artists from around the globe thanks to reader support. Join those helping us tell disability stories in new ways.

Prompt

It’s the end of a long day, and you finally have a moment to write in your journal. How did disability shape your day?

Tell us how you encountered access barriers, or if someone discriminated against you. Or tell us about a moment of joy, or how someone unexpectedly showed you solidarity.

What’s life like where you live? How did you feel in your body? What could you see, smell, hear or taste?

Your diary might come from your own experience, or that of others around you. Feel free to use fiction, non-fiction, or a creative blend between the two.

What we're looking for

The Debrief’s disability lens is based on the idea that disability is a way into understanding and describing the world in new ways. Do take a look at recent Debrief essays to get an idea of our style.

• Tell your story in whatever way is authentic to you. We believe that your unique voice is the key to powerful writing.
• Tell us about concrete details – they ground your writing, and give readers specifics to relate to.
• We don't mind if your submission doesn't have perfect grammar. We will help with editing the final version.
• Submissions should be in English, but if you wrote it first in a different language, we'd love to see both.
• A global perspective on disabled life. When picking our favourites we'll prioritise diversity of geography, and especially entries from the Global South.
• We welcome submissions from people with and without disabilities.

What to know

Dear Diary is the second open call for writing from our community. For last year’s Letters from the Future we received over 70 submissions, published six, and are now working with two of those writers on further work.

Send us a diary entry interpreting the prompt (500 words or less). The Debrief uses a letter format, so write your submissions opening with something like “Dear Diary” and closing with a sign-off.

The process for submissions and selection is:

• Entries are open to readers signed-up to the Debrief (this is free, and you can unsubscribe any time).
• Every submission will be carefully considered, even if we cannot provide individual feedback.
• Shortlisted entries will usually go through an editing process.
• Favourites will be selected by Peter Torres Fremlin and Celestine Fraser.
• Our five favourite entries will be published in an upcoming edition of Disability Debrief, and paid £100 each.

On the use of AI:

• We ask for transparency about if/how you used AI in your submission.
• We encourage you not to use AI to correct grammar or adjust your style. We will edit the piece and work with writers to bring out their own unique style.
• We also don't recommend that you use generative AI to write the piece, as we'd prefer to hear directly from you. But maybe there is a way it can help you - just let us know.

See more about how the Debrief approaches use of AI.

And our deadline is the 20th July 2026, 11am BST.

Make a submission