About DeafFirefly

My name is Donna Williams, and I live near Bristol. I am a British Sign Language poet, and have performed to sell-out audiences, though I admit I wasn’t the headliner! Even so, I’m starting to develop my style and my confidence in this art-form. The featured images on my blog are of me signing my new Sign Language poem, ‘Phoenix Garden’.

I am currently doing a part-time MA in Ethics and Social Philosophy at Cardiff University, in the hopes that this will improve my future employment prospects… yeah. But at least it’s fun (to me) and it’ll be cool to have some more letters after my name. My ideal job would be as a clinical ethicist, as I feel I can bring my own perspective as a Deaf, disabled (it’s worth noting I consider my deafness separate from my disability) individual to the area of medical ethics, and if I can change things for the better, that’s all to the good.

I am also a keen and flexible writer with varied interests, chiefly science and comedy, especially as related to disability issues, having written poetry, short plays, sketches, stories and articles, and also enjoys performing. Admittedly I lifted that straight from my writing CV, but it still sounds good. I am a deaf writer who is especially interested in the implications of the ever-advancing march of science and technology on the deaf / disabled communities, and whilst I think ‘true’ transhumanism is a while away yet, it’s still something to consider. When I’m not imagining worst-case scenarios for the future, I enjoy writing poetry and reading New Scientist. As a British Sign Language user, and my dream is for all the world to be accessible, or at least deaf-aware. As Banksy might scribble on a placard somewhere, “Laugh now, but our time will come”