Festival of Encounters

TALK:

To Exist As I Am

At the age of twenty-two, Grace Spence Green's spine was broken at the fourth thoracic vertebra, and her life changed tracks. One day, she was in hospital supporting patients, the next she was one.

Disability rights activist and researcher, Khansa Maria, will discuss with Grace her latest memoir To Exist As I Am, where she traces her journey back to the wards and back to herself - as words like recovery, independence and community, well and unwell, took on new meanings.

Through her extraordinary story, she asks how we might fight for change, while joyously embracing life exactly as we are.

There will be a 30-min book signing after the event.

Please note, this venue is fully wheelchair accessible.

Saturday 4 October 4–5pm

Block 336, basement: gallery level, 336 Brixton Rd, London SW9 7AA

(entry via Block 336 entrance)

BOOK TICKETS

Grace Spence Green [she/her] is a junior doctor working to challenge the narratives surrounding disability, medicine and identity. In 2018, aged 22 and a 4th year medical student, she sustained a spinal cord injury and is now a full-time wheelchair user. Since her life-changing injury, Grace has become a passionate advocate for the disabled community, appearing in the BMJ and Guardian, and across TV and radio. Her book TO EXIST AS I AM: A Doctor's Notes on Recovery and Radical Acceptance was published in June.

Khansa Maria [she/her] is a disability rights advocate, researcher, and independent consultant with a professional background in International Development, and Inclusive Education. Over the past few years, Khansa has collaborated with both international and local organizations to develop strategies for fostering inclusion and addressing various Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion issues. She is currently pursuing a DPhil/PhD in Education at the University of Oxford as Rhodes Scholar.