@penpep
UK true socialist by seaside. Author, poet, disability activist whose work explores our stories through provocation, wit, kindness. Opinion journo. Novel on subs & new poetry almost. Saucy old punk gal. Cat mum. Wobbly health at moment. Grr.
With thanks for support and inspiration @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social @disabilityarts.bsky.social @sistersofrida.bsky.social @together2012cic.bsky.social @kitdewaal.com @dhhlitagency.bsky.social @abirfellows.bsky.social
#WorldBookDay, perspectives not heard in fiction? As disabled kid only had ‘invalids’ bratty Colin & Clara! A ‘cure’ meant ‘trying hard’! Check my Substack, support those telling our untold stories #DisabledAuthor #DisabilityLit #OwnVoices #WorldBookDay2026 open.substack.com/pub/pennypep...
Penny sits in front of her Living Archive and books for sale, which are on white shelving behind her to the left. The books we can see are Desires Reborn - a pink paperback with white lettering and a faint image of a disabled couple embracing, next to this is the hardback memoir First In The World Somewhere, it is a red cover with bright yellow lettering and white text. In the lower third there is a graphic of lips outlined in black. Below this shelf are many files and other books featuring Penny’s work. On top of the shelving there are two vintage suitcases, to the right of the image there’s a framed picture of Penny’s 1989 seven inch single, a black and white chalk effect image of a seated girl. Below this is another framed picture announcing Penny’s Living Archive. In the centre, Penny sits in her wheelchair. She wears glasses, has red hair, up in a bun and is wearing a headband made of twigs and crystals into the shape of antlers. Penny is wearing a leopard print dress and a cropped, dusky pink cardigan. She is holding a copy of her memoir and smiling. In front of her on a table is an arrangement of her books, flyers and postcards.
Fancy new stories, fresh perspectives rarely heard in fiction? It’s #WorldBookDay so going all out with a cheeky please to say support this #DisabledAuthor -and the many of us working to get the untold stories out there. Google me and see :) #WriterLife #DisabilityRepresentation #ThoughtfulThursday
Standby... Tomorrow is #WorldBookDay. I'll be around. And with extras. Might share some teasy lines from my latest novel (out on subs!) #folkhorror #paranormal with shocker #disability #narrative... The Widow of... #writerlife #disabled
Penny, a wheelchair user, with red hair, in a bun, is on stage at the Royal Albert Hall. She is bathed in a purple light including over her dress, as she sits beside a large green plant with huge leaves. She is smiling and raising her arm slightly. A graphic in the shape of a think bubble says MY DISABLED LIFE... Lined in red, and a background of pink.
Illness tries to crush me & world news is grim. I keep defiant, lifted by happier memories #RAH, There’s my #folkhorror to finish. Yes, there’s a central disabled character. Fiction transmutes us–we all deserve spaces to tell our stories.
#WriterLife #WritersWednesday, #WIPWednesday #DisabledAuthor
A small red notebook with a black edge and two graphics of blue/black mackerel fish. Black heads, black stripy lines and fins, white blue spotty belly. Printed text reads. In block white, MACKEREL. Black text: in tomato & basil sauce. Skinless and boneless. There’s a black pen across the handwritten title to hide it and a giant gold paper clip on the right.
A close up of rough handwritten words in black ink on ruled white paper. Blurred words read - plot points - W dreams - disturbed - treasure - searching…
A tricky week of health challenges. But cheering myself up with this cheeky sneak of some rare handwritten scribbles for my latest novel (2nd draft!). My happy place & in a favourite notebook. Well, for this week! #FictionFriday #WriterLife #GothicHorror #DisabledAuthor #DisabilityRepresentation
A beautiful timeless photograph of young Penny aged about five years old. Shown from the waist up, Penny holds a small dark bird in one hand, as it nestles on her palm. She is wearing a handmade dress, dark blue with pale blue cornflowers and a very cute lace trimmed collar. Her brown hair is cut in a bob with an unruly fringe. She's looking down and smiling at the bird. In the background there is dark green foliage
Looking at the grey sky turning happy blue by the sea, poems blooming like my nervy mini daffodils, hoping to pick up some #Firehorseenergy this weekend as we’re in the #ChineseNewYear2026. Some light amid the global gloom! Please? #Haikus maybe? #PoetryInMotion #thursdaythrowback #disabledauthor
Alt txt: Penny, wheelchair user by bookcases with her published work, holds her memoir, First in the World Somewhere, red book with yellow text. Behind are Penny’s poetry collection, short story collection. Penny has red hair, pink headband, glasses, smiling at camera. The vibe is a writer’s space.
Look what’s popped up – me, My Writing Life, for @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social Humbled/excited to work with a great organisation that supports writers & to stand alongside some mighty talent as one of their beneficiaries incl. #MargaretBusby #AnnaBurns #DHLawrence #MoniqueRoffey #writerlife ✍🏻
A photo showing a close-up of Penny's white hands holding open a copy of her book Desires Reborn. She has small fingers, pinky lilac painted nails and wears silver rings. The pages are open, plain creamy white with black text. There is a pink background of Penny's table and we can see Penny is wearing a brown black cream leopard print top.
#Valentines, so close! Forget the push to overspend, leave off doom. Get real instead with some juicy representation in stories of #CripLitLove. Pop by to hear readings of sad, saucy, silly snippets from my work on Insta & TikTok. #writerslife✍🏻#DesiresReborn #SpicyReads #DisabledAndCute #MyMemoir
Give me cheeky stories 🙂 annoying stories? Once, on a first date I managed to spill a jug of milk over my date's lap.... #valentines #criplit #writerlife
The image shows a book in shades of pink and red. In a centre square there is a bold graphic of a couple. One is a full lipped young woman in a wheelchair, with long funky hair, wearing stockings. She pulls a young man with short dark hair towards her as he kneels, his mouth slightly open as she tugs his bright yellow tie so their faces are close to touching. Their expressions are intense as they gaze into each other's eyes. The young man has his arms around her, one wrist in a splint. The white text along the top reads: Penny Pepper, and below the image, desires reborn explicit stories of disability, desire and love.
Valentines dawns: time to thank you for loyalty & love! Usual challenges of chronic ill health, barriers make posting hard! To my last I remain determined in telling the untold #DesiresReborn. Dare to share your Valentines, good and bad? #writerslife✍🏻 #CripLit #SpicyReads #followfriday
There is love in the smallest second, and pleasure in shared connections that build friendship. I will not allow hatred and horror to infect me or defuse my belief in knowing there are good people, everywhere. Let us never forget, let truth not be buried. Always look for the light to get in.
Let us never forget, let truth not be buried, yet always look for the light to get in.
You can read my article, The Dark Door Opening, for Holocaust Memorial day here: www.together2012.org.uk/activities-p...
#fridayfollow #Neverforget #HMD2026 #DisabilityRights
Despite what others anticipated was my fate as a disabled person, a 'useless eater', I've been blessed, and ultimately I will not allow hatred and horror to infect me or defuse my belief in knowing there are good people, everywhere.
I've lived my life under threat, faced open revulsion & low, questionable expectations. In retaliation, I celebrate my life well lived, & hope you will join me in thinking about your own joyful moments.
www.together2012.org.uk/activities-p...
#fridayfollow #Neverforget #HMD2026 #DisabilityRights
@together2012cic.bsky.social ❤️🙏🏻🙏🏽🙏🏾🙏🏿👩🦽➡️🌈
Thank you so much Natalya. It's good you found joy, it brings me my own! Outside of much fighting and attack... We will prevail 😘 because disability is part of the human experience, others need reminding ❤️
You can read my essay here: www.together2012.org.uk/activities-p...
A photo of Penny taken by professional photographer JJ Waller recently. Sitting in front of a black background of white spots Penny has red brown wavy hair below her shoulders worn in a vintage 50s style with vintage style make up. She has a pink flower in her hair and stares directly at the camera with a half smile on her face. She wears a necklace which is a pair of mini red catseye glasses. The vibe is thoughtful.
Maybe this should come with a trigger warning. It's a reminder about the intentional killing of disabled people. Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and I was commissioned by Together 2012 to write this piece I’m proud of.
#HolocaustMemorialDay #DisabilityHistory #HMD2026 #RememberThePast #AktionT4
You can find my essay here: www.together2012.org.uk/activities-p...
Image shows Penny sitting in a wheelchair. She wears a bright pink dress, with white flowers and a thin orange cardigan tied at the front. She has brown-red hair up in a high bun with a pinky headband. She wears a string of white pearls and an Egyptian cross, an Ankh, which is a cruciform shape with the upper half shaped as an oval. In front of Penny on a small tray is a wooden book rest. To her side on the left of the image is Jake. He’s wearing a stripy T-Shirt in muted orange and dark navy and beige trousers. He has short cropped hair. They are both smiling, in a bright room with people behind them and dark curtains to the left. The vibe is relaxed and happy.
Gloomy sunset looming. Cheering myself up with this happy memory – first on the bill at the launch of the Hastings anthology, Poet Town, Sept 2025. Here’s me with my wonderful pal, the writer Jake Arnott, as my ever faithful page turner! Believe me, he does it perfectly. #writerlife #tuesdaythoughts
Thank you! I hope 2026 brings me more readers and juicy publishing contracts 🙂
I hope - always - to try! #energieslow
A colourful lounge, with a pink orange wall, a barometer, a fabric wall hanging under house plant on a windowsill. On a table there's a black cat crouched down. She has green yellow eyes and is looking a little bit moody. In front of her is a Scrabble board with letters in a mess, a pen and paper.
Saturday Caturday Haiku:
Dull games, letterings!
Dismissive she looks askance.
Yet, she's a beauty!
#catlady #writerlife #poem #haiku
The image shows a copy of the hardback book of my memoir, First in the World Somewhere, published in 2017. It is a red cover with bright yellow lettering and white text. In the lower third there is a graphic of lips outlined in black. The text reads: a force of nature and a voice like no other… Brilliantly funny, brilliantly frank and brilliantly political - Liz Carr. First in the World somewhere. The true adventures of a scribbler, silent, sauce pot and pioneer. Penny Pepper.
My health is wobbly & I remain in hermit mood. Here by the coast there's been torrential rain. Black ice - grumpy unhelpful weather. Still, I sense the world holding its breath. Sharing one of my 'babies'. Reminding myself of what I've done. Do share your plans and hopes for 2026. #writerlife
New year, gentle hopes. Today I'm in London. Earlier I was caught in a snow storm on Tottenham Court Road. A sudden shiver of snowflakes that coated me in my black teddy coat. If I hadn't been so cold I would have relished this magical moment. Living through the dark & light. #Writerlife #poet #icy
I agree. They don't have to fight each other as useful tools in understanding our barriers. Yet society does create an attitude that condemns the ill and impaired. Nuance is good.
Against a pinky peach painted wall, my unique festive style tree is made up of skinny metallic pink branches with random baubles. There's also a cat popping out of a Christmas tree, a felt figure of frida Carlo, dressed in red with her signature mono brow, and black hair. The baubles are a mixture of shiny, ornate and handmade. Purples pinks golds, also some stars and gold suns. To the right on the wall behind the tree is a large green sprig of mistletoe with white berries. On the wall are small plates and placards of a decorative fifties feel nature.
The Penny Pepper tree is coming down now. Yes I always like to put my mark on the mid winter celebrations. But I like to be a bit ahead in knowing it's time to move on. Happy New year friends. What do you hope for the New year? #hny #2026 #writer #disabledwriter #poet #author #untoldstory
We've reached the final installment/last door to open on my DIY Advent Calendar!
I leave you with a little tale I hope you'll enjoy.. - Date in the Strand
buff.ly/9QCy3hk
#disabledwriter #shortstory #writerslife #adventcalendar