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. 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 The Festival of Literary Diversity is an annual literary festival, which takes place in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2016 by Jael Richardson, the festival serves to promote and publicize literature by writers from underrepresented groups, s ...

in Brampton, 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 tales. ''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 The Hamilton Public Library (HPL) is the public library system of Hamilton, Ontario. Services HPL services include the Local History and Archives department (formerly called Special Collections), which houses an extensive collection of local hi ...

. 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, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

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 bubble) ...

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 Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

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: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

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 awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

. ''The Centaur's Wife'' is a finalist for the Ontario Library Associations' 2022 Evergreen Awards.

References

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