A Safe Space

An Introduction from Miri Hirschfeld, Co-Writeability Program Manager

This anthology, A Safe Space, features work by four writers who participated in Writeability Goes Local Melton: Caitlin Mahony, Clare Bardsley, Janelle Sheen and Rachel Edmonds. The group met monthly at the Melton Library and Learning Hub from May to December 2023, with sessions facilitated by local mentor Ruby Hillsmith.  

A Safe Space presents writing developed over the course of the program. The anthology’s title takes the idea of safety from Janelle Sheen’s essay ‘Start With Safety.’ It’s an idea that feels appropriate, given that these pieces exist, at least in part, due to the environment of safety that was created through regular meetings where writers could bounce around ideas, receive feedback and create unique stories.  

The writing in A Safe Space is evocative and compelling. It conjures up place and time: a shady deal in a country pub; an anxious, eventful wait at a bus stop; the quiet celebration of a birthday; the repetitive passage of time over the course of a week; and a hot, airless car ride to a distant past.  

There can be significant barriers to accessing writing and publishing for disabled writers. These barriers can be physical, such as buildings without ramps or lifts, or invisible, like people’s attitudes towards disability, or lack of community and support. Complicated application forms, bureaucratic processes and financial barriers are all things that can block access to writing and exclude groups of people. Exclusions impact the kinds of stories that end up being told. As a result, disability is often written about by non-disabled people through an ableist lens or not written about at all.  

Writeability aims to remove some of the barriers that prevent disabled writers from accessing writing and publishing, and one of the ways we do this is by providing a place and a community where writing and discussion about disability can happen, safely. Writeability creates opportunities for a wide range of stories to be told. These are often stories from the periphery, written by people who have traditionally been excluded from mainstream culture. 

Writers Victoria thanks Ruby Hillsmith for mentoring this group and for editing the writing commissioned for this anthology. We would also like to thank Melton City Council for making this program possible through funding. We hope you enjoy reading, and that we can continue to create safe spaces for storytelling.  

Miri Hirschfeld

Co-Writeability Program Manager