Synopses & Reviews
Not Just Anything is a mosaic of logic, passion and philosophical
musings by Donna Williams, sometimes jolting, sometimes moving, often
illuminating. In it Donna takes you on a poetic adventure into places
past, present and beyond. Often intertwined with the world of autistic
experience, her writings divulge with immediacy, a person in the grip of
overload and shutdowns, of extreme sensory and emotional highs and
passions, of alienation from self, from body and fear of the intensity
of emotion, of the struggle to know self, to communicate, to comprehend.
At other times, her writing somehow transcends the often assumed
limitations of autism, and she dissects so many of the concepts we take
for granted, bringing us face to face with our own social constructions
of 'reality' and so called 'normality' in a way only Donna can.
Synopsis
First published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Synopsis
'For anyone who reads original poetry, this is an excellent read. Donna Williams has a unique talent for creative writing and this collection of poetry takes the reader on a journey of powerful emotions. The poetry is good, unusual and full of personal feelings experienced by the author. The poems are sometimes tear-jerking and at other times so full of humour that you want to laugh out loud. This book leaves a deep and lasting impression, helping to break down the barriers we all feel safer using when thinking of people who are 'different'. The author shows us that she is an individual and competently takes us into her confidence until we see clearly how she sees, making the reader question their own view of life. The poetry is original in its own use of language, the author making us see the world from a different angle in poems like Peace' in which she describes her addiction to fear and Terrorist' in which she explains some of her anger and frustration.' - Good Autism Practice Not Just Anything is a mosaic of logic, passion and philosophical musings by Donna Williams, sometimes jolting, sometimes moving, often illuminating. In it Donna takes you on a poetic adventure into places past, present and beyond. Often intertwined with the world of autistic experience, her writings divulge with immediacy, a person in the grip of overload and shutdowns, of extreme sensory and emotional highs and passions, of alienation from self, from body and fear of the intensity of emotion, of the struggle to know self, to communicate, to comprehend. At other times, her writing somehow transcends the often assumed limitations of autism, and she dissects so many of the concepts we take for granted, bringing us face to face with our own social constructions of reality' and so called 'normality' in a way only Donna can.
About the Author
When Donna Williams was nine they found out that she actually couldn't understand sentences. Hard to imagine that from there she has become an author with 9 published books including two international bestsellers.
Her writing career began when a typewriter was left in her room at the age of nine. She typed a whole line of letter patterns. Over the next four years the letter patterns would become word lists and the word lists would eventually become poetry hidden in a roof void for nobody to see. Donna Williams' career as a writer had begun.
She went on to write songs, re-entered education and developed an ability to write essays, then exploded into the literary world with her first two autobiographical works, the international bestsellers, Nobody Nowhere and then Somebody Somewhere. She followed these with two more autobiographical works, Like Color To The Blind and Everyday Heaven, which also sold internationally and then wrote a series of text books, Autism; An Inside Out Approach, Autism and Sensing; The Unlost Instinct, Exposure Anxiety; The Invisible Cage of Involuntary Self Protection Responses and The Jumbled Jigsaw and the poetry work, Not Just Anything.
Today she continues to write in a range of genres, including moving into fiction and film. Outside of her writing, she is an accomplished artist, sculptor and songwriter and regularly gives international lectures. She lives in the hills in semi-rural Melbourne with her husband Chris.