Today on the podcast I’m talking with Terry-Ann Adams. Terry-Ann is a writer and commentator from Johannesburg. They have an honours in history from the University of Pretoria where she focused on the disability rights movement in South Africa and Disability Representation in American Film. They has spoken and written on ableism and feminism.
In 2020 Terry-Ann published their debut novel, Those Who Live in Cages, with Jacana Media. Those Who Live in Cages is a story of five women, connected to one another through blood and circumstance – Bertha, Janice, Laverne, Kaylynn and Kela (Raquel) – all living in Eldorado Park. As the review in New Frame puts it, “they are women full of hope for their families and futures, bumping up against the obstacles of class limitation and a patriarchal, religious and judgement-driven environment.”
It is a story where place comes alive as character. Eldorado Park is a location that shapes the lives of each of these characters, whether they are yearning to leave or destined to stay. In her interview with New Frame writer, Binwe Adebayo, Adams says:
“I think that the world is a dystopia, that systemic oppression kills any form of hope for real change or progress. As individuals, we can move forward slightly … but the greater good is not realised and many are left behind … Only when systems that oppress us are dismantled will we see real change.”
So today I’ll be talking with Terry-Ann about writing as one tool to address social issues, their work as a disability activist, and what comes next for them.
