Sharon Berg interviews Alice Zorn, author of Colours in Her Hands, for the Temz Review:
SB: Was there a collection of works, or a literary movement that inspired you to map out Colours in Her Hands? What was your initial inspiration, even if it’s something counter-intuitive?
AZ: What made me want to write this novel was that there is no novel in English about a middle-aged person who has Down Syndrome. There are novels about parenting a child with Down Syndrome, but they’re about the parents. Occasionally I’ve come across a cameo appearance of a character with Down Syndrome, but it’s brief. I wanted Mina’s presence in the novel to be front stage centre, even if the novel wasn’t going to be all about her. I also wanted to write about an older adult where the question of continued autonomy arises.
You can read the full interview here.