Adam Pottle does not stick to one type of writing. The British Columbia-born, Saskatoon-based artist's pursuits include children's book author, post-secondary educator, playwright, memoirist, and leader among Deaf and disabled cultural communities. To date, his published catalogue includes a memoir, multiple novels, a book of poetry and two plays.
Switching styles like this is a key part of his creative process. "I have a very, very short attention span, and as a result, I have a tendency to do what I call genre-hopping. So I go from memoir, to children's books, to plays, to horror fiction, and go back and forth like that," Pottle told CBC.
"It helps expand my toolbox, and it helps to make me to a better writer." Pottle, who currently teaches communications at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, started writing in his mid teens. He began producing what he calls imitations of writers like Stephen King.
Although his experiences as a Deaf person have become central to his work over the years, things didn't start out that way. "I never considered writing about disability. It wasn't on my mind at that time, and I think that came as a result of internalized ableism," he said.
"I was trying to avoid addressing that whole thing, because if I were to address it, then I would have to ...
think about my relationship with my family, my relationship with the world. And it wasn't something I was prepared to do as a 16-year-old." During his master's program at the University of Northern British Colum.