Amanda Leduc is a Canadian writer. She is known for her books ''Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space'' and ''The Centaur's Wife.''

Career

Leduc's first novel, ''The Miracles of Ordinary Men'', was published in 2013 by

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canada, Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholar ...

. The novel alternates perspectives between Sam, a man who has recently begun sprouting wings, and Lilah. Leduc is the communications and development coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity in

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

, Ontario. FOLD is Canada's first festival for diverse authors and stories. In 2020, Leduc's non-fiction book, ''Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space'' was published by

Coach House Books Coach House Books is an independent book publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Coach House publishes experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundar ...

. The book discusses representations of disability in

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

s. ''Disfigured'' is part memoir and explores Leduc's personal experiences as a disabled person. Leduc was interested in challenging the idea that disability is "synonymous with an unhappy ending". She began writing it after walking in the forest in 2018 and considering how forests, the setting of many fairy tales, are often inherently inaccessible to disabled individuals. Leduc's 2021 novel, ''The Centaur's Wife'', grew out of a short story of the same name that she wrote in 2014. Leduc originally thought the story would be a novella. Between 2016 and 2019, she re-wrote the novel four times. ''The Centaur's Wife'' builds on the themes and ideas of ''Disfigured'' insofar as it is a fairy tale that centres disability and difference. The book is dedicated to Leduc's friend Jess, who died in 2019 shortly after the completion of the manuscript. In 2022, Leduc was a Mabel Pugh Taylor Writer in Residence with the Hamilton Public Library. Leduc's next book, ''Wild Life'', is set to be published in 2024.

Personal life

Leduc was born in British Columbia. She has congenital

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

and as a young child developed a limp as a consequence of an operation to remove a

cyst A cyst is a closed sac, having a distinct envelope and division compared with the nearby tissue. Hence, it is a cluster of cells that have grouped together to form a sac (like the manner in which water molecules group together to form a bubb ...

from her brain. Leduc also has spastic hemiplegia. Leduc currently lives in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

Works

* ''The Miracles of Ordinary Men'' (2013) * ''Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space'' (2020) * ''The Centaur's Wife'' (2021)

Awards

In 2015, Leduc was a finalist for the Thomas Morton Memorial Prize in Fiction. Leduc's short story, "All This, and Heaven Too", was long-listed for the 2019 CBC short story prize. ''Disfigured'' was nominated for a 2021 Aurora Award in the category Best Related Work and was nominated in the non-fiction category at the 28th annual

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Literary Awards. It was also nominated in the non-fiction category at the 2020

Governor General's Literary Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual List of awards presented by the governor general of Canada, awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. Th ...

. ''The Centaur's Wife'' is a finalist for the

Ontario Library Association The Ontario Library Association (OLA) was established in 1900 and is the oldest continually operating library association in Canada. With over 4,000 members, OLA is also the largest library association in Canada and among the 10 largest library ...

s' 2022 Evergreen Awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leduc, Amanda Living people People with cerebral palsy Canadian writers with disabilities Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian fantasy writers Canadian women novelists Writers from Hamilton, Ontario 21st-century Canadian women writers Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian novelists Novelists from Ontario Novelists from British Columbia