Disability Recognition Month in the School of English

Octavia E. Butler

Octavia Butler was an award-winning author of thirteen books. She was a pioneer in the science fiction genre, winning both the Nebula and the Hugo Awards. In 1995, Butler was honoured with a MacArthur fellowship, and in 2005, she was the recipient of the City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal. The Pen Center West awarded her with a lifetime achievement award. Octavia Butler also had dyslexia, but spoke often on how this never stopped her from being a writer and self-confessed “bookworm”. She died in 2006, but her legacy in science fiction lives on.

John Milton

“To be blind is not to be miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable.” – John Milton

John Milton’s career as a writer of prose and poetry spanned three distinct eras: Stuart England, the Civil War (1642-1653) and the Restoration. Milton was a republican, and in his prose works he advocated the abolition of the Church of England and the execution of Charles I. From the beginning of the English Civil Wars in 1642 to long after the restoration of Charles II as King in 1660, he espoused his political philosophy that opposed tyranny and state-sanctioned religion into his works. His best known work, ‘Paradise Lost’, was not composed until after he had become blind in both eyes in 1652.

Lord Byron

Lord Byron, in full George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, was a British Romantic poet and satirist. Often dubbed England’s ‘playboy poet,’ he was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement. Born with a clubbed right foot in London on January 22, 1788, Byron was known to walk with a limp throughout his lifetime. With the death of his great-uncle in 1798, George became the sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale, heir to Newstead Abbey, the family seat in Nottinghamshire. Some of his most famous works include ‘Don Juan’, ‘When We Two Parted’ and ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.’