Frances Ryan
{{Short description|British journalist and author (born 1985)}}
{{About|the British journalist|the American actress|Fran Ryan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox writer
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| name = Frances Ryan
| honorific_suffix = FRSL
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| occupation = Journalist, author
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| alma_mater = University of Nottingham
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| subject = Disability rights movement
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| notable_works = Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People
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| awards = Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
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Frances Ryan FRSL is a British journalist, author, and activist for people with disabilities. In 2021 the Shaw Trust named her one of the UK's ten most influential disabilities activists. Global Citizen called her "a prominent voice for people with disabilities in the media". She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Early life and education
Ryan grew up in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and attended Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-31 |title=Former KGGS pupil named as fellow of Royal Literature Society |url=https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/former-kggs-pupil-named-as-fellow-of-royal-literature-societ-9266273/ |access-date=2022-08-27 |website=Grantham Journal |language=en}} She has a PhD in politics from the University of Nottingham.{{Cite web |title=Frances Ryan |url=https://disabilitypower100.com/project/frances-ryan/ |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 |language=en-GB}}
Career
Ryan is a journalist, author, and activist for disabled people.{{Cite web |last=Forward |first=Devon |title=Beyoncé Will Remove Lyric Following Backlash |url=https://parade.com/news/beyonce-to-remove-ableist-lyric-renaissance |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Parade |date=August 2022 |language=en |archive-date=17 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817173946/https://parade.com/news/beyonce-to-remove-ableist-lyric-renaissance |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Top Ten |url=https://disabilitypower100.com/top-ten/ |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=A New Book Documents the Devastating Poverty Faced by People With Disabilities in Britain |url=https://www.globalcitizen.org/de/content/frances-ryan-disabilities-book-britain-poverty/ |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Global Citizen |date=17 June 2019 |language=de |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163239/https://www.globalcitizen.org/de/content/frances-ryan-disabilities-book-britain-poverty/ |url-status=live }} She began writing about disability in 2012{{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Frances |title=Crippled: Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled People |date=September 2020 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=9781788739566}}{{rp|x}} and has written the Hardworking Britain column for The Guardian. She has worked as a political researcher at the University of Nottingham.{{cite news |last1=Ryan |first1=Frances |date=10 July 2012 |title=Inaccessibility pushes disabled people further on to the edges |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited |url=https://uk.trem.media/society/2012/jul/10/inaccessibility-pushes-marginalised-on-to-edges |url-status=live |access-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163239/https://uk.trem.media/society/2012/jul/10/inaccessibility-pushes-marginalised-on-to-edges |archive-date=18 August 2022}}
Ryan's 2019 book Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People explored the impacts of the UK austerity programme on disabled people.{{Cite web |last=Delgado |first=Kasia |date=30 August 2021 |title='Britain can do a whole lot better for disabled people, if it chooses' |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/frances-ryan-hen-night-britain-can-do-better-for-disabled-people-paralympics-1172210 |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=inews.co.uk |language=en |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730210919/https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/frances-ryan-hen-night-britain-can-do-better-for-disabled-people-paralympics-1172210 |url-status=live }} The book was published by Verso in June 2019.{{cite book |title=Crippled |date=September 2020 |url=https://www.versobooks.com/books/3625-crippled |accessdate=30 July 2022 |publisher=Verso Books |isbn=9781788739566 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730000729/https://www.versobooks.com/books/3625-crippled |url-status=live }} The book inspired the BBC drama Hen Night, which Ryan created with Vici Wreford-Sinnott.{{cite web |last=Marks |first=Olivia |date=4 September 2021 |title=Hen Night Shines A Light On Young Disabled Women – And The Assumptions We Make About The Reality Of Disabled Lives |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/hen-night-film |accessdate=30 July 2022 |work=Vogue |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163239/https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/hen-night-film |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Webster |first=Lucy |date=29 August 2021 |title=The 18-month hangover: Hen Night's disabled trailblazers on making TV history |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/aug/29/18-month-hangover-hen-night-disabled-trailblazers-tv-history-lockdown |accessdate=30 July 2022 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163235/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/aug/29/18-month-hangover-hen-night-disabled-trailblazers-tv-history-lockdown |url-status=live }}
In 2022, she commented on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and inflation on disabled people. She argued that many disabled people require extra electricity for medical equipment or extra heat. She said, "If you're chronically ill, you can't go round multiple shops for the cheapest deal."{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Ben |title=The cost-of-living crisis will be a 'matter of survival' for disabled people |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/cost-living-crisis-matter-survival-7067131 |access-date=18 August 2022 |publisher=Nottingham Post |date=14 May 2022 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163253/https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/cost-living-crisis-matter-survival-7067131 |url-status=live }}
Recognition
In 2015 Ryan was awarded the Politics Best Thesis Prize from the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham.{{cite web |title=School of Politics and International Relations |url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/news-items/2016/frances-ryan-awarded-politics-best-thesis-prize.aspx |website=Nottingham |publisher=University of Nottingham |access-date=18 August 2022 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163227/https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/politics/news-items/2016/frances-ryan-awarded-politics-best-thesis-prize.aspx |url-status=live }} Ryan won the Royal National Institute of Blind People media impact award in 2019.
In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize{{Cite web |title=Frances Ryan {{!}} The Orwell Foundation |url=https://www.orwellfoundation.com/investigative/frances-ryan/ |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=www.orwellfoundation.com |language=en-GB}} and in 2020 for the Paul Foot Award.{{Cite web |title=The Paul Foot Award {{!}} Private Eye Online |url=https://www.private-eye.co.uk//issue-1578/paul-foot-award/2020 |access-date=2022-08-26 |website=www.private-eye.co.uk}}
In 2021 the Shaw Trust named her one of the UK's ten most influential disabilities activists. Global Citizen called her "a prominent voice for people with disabilities in the media". Ryan was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022, due in combination to her authorship of Crippled and her writing for The Guardian.{{cite web |last1=Shaffi |first1=Sarah |last2=Knight |first2=Lucy |date=12 July 2022 |title=Adjoa Andoh, Russell T Davies and Michaela Coel elected to Royal Society of Literature |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/12/adjoa-andoh-russell-t-davies-and-michaela-coel-elected-to-royal-society-of-literature |accessdate=30 July 2022 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163226/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/12/adjoa-andoh-russell-t-davies-and-michaela-coel-elected-to-royal-society-of-literature |url-status=live }}
Personal life
Ryan has generalised muscle weakness and uses a wheelchair.{{Cite web |title=Dr Frances Ryan |url=https://disabilitypower100.com/project/dr-frances-ryan/ |access-date=17 August 2022 |website=Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 |language=en-GB |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730210922/https://disabilitypower100.com/project/dr-frances-ryan/ |url-status=live }} Due to her disability, Ryan was unable to travel for a book tour, so she spoke at online events. For a television interview about her book, she declined a producer's suggestion that she be filmed performing tasks around her house, as she did not think this would have been asked were she not disabled.{{cite web |last=Ryan |first=Frances |date=4 September 2020 |title=Publishing must make room for disabled authors – for its own good |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/04/publishing-must-make-room-for-disabled-authors-for-its-own-good |accessdate=30 July 2022 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818163231/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/04/publishing-must-make-room-for-disabled-authors-for-its-own-good |url-status=live }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG6vn2mdxSg Video The demonization of disabled people – Frances Ryan]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Frances}}
Category:Academics of the University of Nottingham
Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham
Category:British activists with disabilities
Category:British disability rights activists
Category:British writers with disabilities
Category:English women columnists
Category:English women journalists
Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
Category:People educated at Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School