IDs: Queer, Sapphic, Blind, Disabled, POC

Author IDs: Queer, Sapphic, Blind, Disabled, POC 

CWs: Murder, violence, ableism

Al-Mohamed’s novella is the story of Azulea, a queer blind woman living in a city that houses the gates to other worlds. Her family are the archivists for the city. They interview people traveling through the gates and gather oral histories of all of the different worlds. Azulea and her cousin Penny are training as a team to be archivists. Penny has a learning disability that makes it difficult for her to learn languages, and she is a talented and quick writer. Azulea cannot write because she is blind, and she has a natural gift for languages and is a talented audio learner. In fact, she never forgets anything that she hears. Because of this, she serves as the interviewer and translator. Many of their family members disapprove of their decision to train as a team, but they refuse to give up on one another. They use their talents and strengths to support one another, providing an excellent example of community and collective labor. 

Near the beginning of the novella, Azulea’s grandmother, the only family member that supported her becoming an archivist, is murdered. No one can figure out what has happened to her, and Azulea decides to take matters into her own hands. With some help from her community, she discovers who is murdering her family members and why, despite the complete lack of faith any of her family members had in her. Al-Mohamed’s novella gives us a story of a queer, disabled woman who is capable, smart, and resourceful. Because Azulea is blind, we get very little physical description in the novella. We only see what she sees. Yet Al-Mohamed also doesn't depict Azulea's world as complete darkness, instead offering a version of blindness that is much more relatable to many blind folks. Azulea can see some colors, shapes, etc, but she cannot see in detail. Therefore, the novella is told in a similar fashion. We also see all the ways that Azulea’s city is inaccessible to her. We also experience Azulea's desire to travel to other worlds, and the ways that her family tells her that this is impossible. Al-Mohamed’s novella challenges not only the ways that space is physically inaccessible for many disabled people, but also the ways that it is socially inaccessible. Disabled people are told over and over again that they cannot do things that able-bodied people do. Al-Mohamed’s novella challenges that, through Azulea’s belief in herself, and the ways that she and her community support one another.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the significance of Azulea’s near-perfect memory? What relationship, if any, does her memory have to her disability?

2. How does this novella show inaccessibility in space? How does this inaccessibility differ from the versions shown in the other stories in this section?

3. How is Azulea empowered in the novella? Disempowered?