Maria Lightwood — Writer, Screenwriter, Poet Where Story Meets Policy and Science

Hi there—I’m an emerging writer with a passion for storytelling that weaves lived experience with advocacy. In 2025, I was awarded DYCP Arts Council England funding to develop my debut novel-in-progress, and my work has been recognised by leading development programmes including ITV’s Mentoring Programme and the National Centre for Writing x TLC Free Reads scheme.​

 

My flash fiction Sleeping Dogs Lie in Fetal Position received an Honourable Mention in the CRAFT Flash Prose Prize, judged by Meg Pokrass. My poems Being Well is Not and My Mother’s Back of Head were selected for the Mid-Atlantic Review’s Amplifying Disabled Voices feature and the CRIPtic x Spread the Word Salon with Cathy Reay, respectively.

 

My background blends healthcare, policy, and editorial work. I’ve written for organisations such as the Snowdon Trust, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, The Royal Society, and Gingerbread, with articles published in The Pharmaceutical Journal. My grounding in healthcare and psychology deepens my understanding of mental health and social injustice—threads that run through my writing, whatever form it takes.

​​

Advocacy is integral to my creative work. I’m a Lead Author for a forthcoming feature on Disabled Leaders with DARK (Disability Action Research Kollective), a radical disabled-led publication. I also contribute to the ACE-funded Reflecting Realities initiative and am a member of ADCI (Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses). I’ve been part of national steering groups including Medicines, Ethics and Practice, Reflecting Realities, and Changing Expectations on Research Culture, where I work to centre equity, access, and underrepresented voices in publishing and beyond.

​

Everything I write is shaped by lived experience—multiple disabilities, refugee displacement, poverty, estrangement after a traumatic upbringing, and a late autism diagnosis. With no safety net, I’m building a life through writing—determined to reimagine how disability is portrayed in literature, and who gets to tell those stories.

​

For me, writing is both survival and vision—a way to reclaim power, forge connection, and imagine a future I was never handed. My dream is to publish books that don’t just resonate, but help build a world where others like me can finally feel at home. This is more than a career—it’s a lifelong drive to tell stories that endure, stories that outlast me.