We talk to celebrated playwright and disability activist, Susan Nussbaum about her prize-winning disability novel, “lGood Kings, Bad Kings.”
The novel tells the story of a group of disabled kids in a bleak nursing home, and some of the adults who ally with them. It’s filled with crip humor (“If this is what it means to be a ward of the state, you can have your award.” p.31). The characters are full of life, the kind of people you want to know.
This unique book pulls no punches, not just about the grim reality of low-income nursing homes, but about the political realities that surround it.
We meet the career builders, the corporate manager, the kick-back taking doctor, the over-worked workers. We learn about the system that traps these children in a boring, limited building where they can be bossed around and preyed upon by predator.
“Good Kings, Bad Kings” won the inaugral PEN/Bellweather prize.
Hosted by Shelley Berman, Adrienne Lauby, and Sheela Gunn-Cushman.