Liel Bridgford

Liel (she/they) is a writer, trainer and a Psychologist based in Naarm.

NEWS from May 2024! Please note all of Liel’s work now lives in her new website: Kultivate.au.

Lkbridgford will be closed over the next few weeks. If you want to stay in the loop with Liel’s work, or collaborate, please go to Kultivate.au or send an email to contact@kultivate.au.

Thanks for your support.

A portrait of Liel smiling at the camera. Liel is a white person with olive skin and shoulder-length brown hair. She is wearing a black top and black thin glasses.

[Image Description: a portrait of Liel smiling at the camera. Liel is a white person with olive skin and shoulder-length brown hair. She is wearing a black top and black thin glasses.]

TOP 5 ARTS Residency – ABC. In 2021, Liel has been selected by the ABC to the TOP 5 media residency program. She is honored to be selected to this exclusive program, to work with and learn form the best in the media, radio and publishing industry.

(Un)marginalised – a raw intersectionality podcast. Out in the world since April 2021, (Un)marginalised explores the realities of living on intersections of diverse identities. Created, produced and hosted by Liel, the pod is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and this site.

Liel has taken great care to provide accessibility throughout this website. You will notice the ‘Listen to this’ button on all pages, image descriptions accompanying photos and more. If your access needs are not met, please let us know via the contact page.

Read My Latest Posts

Book review: Gender Equity & Reconciliation 

I was recently humbled to learn about Gender Equity and Reconciliation International (GERI) through their book published by Hohm Press in 2022. Gender Equity & Reconciliation is authored by William Keepin and Cynthia Brix, along with other authors and contributors.   The book explores and explains the program of Gender Equity and Reconciliation that has been …

Publications

Stormy Weather Anthology by Writers Victoria, published in October 2023. Liel’s poem Crash is a part of this anthology, which can be found here.

Spaced at Fuse Festival by The Waiting Room Arts Company. In September 2021 Liel created and performed work through Spaced. Spaced is a cry for solidarity between members of the disability community and those who identify as D/deaf. It gets deep and meaningful about psychosocial disabilities and physical impairments, tackling forbidden subjects like advocacy and curing disabilities. Two of Liel’s poems, Spark and Your Skin, appear here.

SANE Australia: in 2021 Liel has combined her passions and knowledge for both writing and mental health to write for SANE Australia, about:

A book cove of We've Got This - Stories by disabled parents. The cover is blue with large yellow and orange three dimensional text reading WE’VE GOT THIS. Smaller yellow text reads STORIES BY DISABLED PARENTS and white text reads Edited by Eliza Hull.

We’ve Got This – Stories by Disabled Parents

In March 2022, a chapter of Liel’s writing will be published in this anthology by Black Inc. Books. This is the first major anthology by parents with disabilities, edited by Eliza Hull. Find out more and pre-order the book here.

[Image description: A book cove of We’ve Got This – Stories by disabled parents. The cover is blue with large yellow and orange three dimensional text reading WE’VE GOT THIS. Smaller yellow text reads STORIES BY DISABLED PARENTS and white text reads Edited by Eliza Hull.]

ABC Article: As a part of the ABC TOP 5 Arts residency, Liel wrote a piece about disability representation in Australian fiction. Find it here: ‘Publishing more fiction by Australian authors with disability is crucial for disabled people’s representation – and their wellbeing’

In 2022 Liel’s work was published in the Silver Linings anthology by Boroondara writers. You can find the poem Cries and the first chapter of Liel’s manuscript here.

Media

In November 2023 Liel spoke with ABC News about the need for disabled women to work in the health and social services in Australia. You can read the article here and listen to the TV news story here.

In April 2022 a radio package Liel created has been aired on The Book Show of the ABC. The package focussed on disability writing in fiction by disabled authors. Listen here (start at 24’20”).

In April 2022 Liel spoke on 3RC about writing disability parenting for We’ve Got This. Listen here.

In April 2023 Liel spoke with Jasper Peach on Able radio about her work as a Psychologist (Provisional) and anti-oppression work.

In November 2022 Liel was a guest on The I Can’t Stand Podcast. She spoke with Peta Hooke about disability, immigration, belonging & identity. Listen here.

As a part of 2022 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Liel participated in a Radical Access conversation, facilitated by Caroline Bowditch (CEO, Arts Access Victoria) and Carly Findlay (Access Advisor, Melbourne Fringe). Find the full conversation here.

In 2021 Liel spoke with 9 Honey about her experience of pregnancy and waiting for birth while navigating Covid restrictions.

About Liel

Liel (she/they) is a writer, poet, trainer, Psychologist (Provisional) and a disability and justice advocate. Liel writes poetry, memoir, essay and fiction. Her work is published in ABC Arts, Hireup, the anthology We’ve Got This by Black Inc. Books and Scribe UK, the Spaced Zine of The Waiting Room Arts Company, amongst others. Liel was an ABC TOP 5 Arts resident and the 2022 editor of Writing Place Magazine of Arts Access Australia. She has appeared on various ABC radio programs, 3RC radio, Able radio and Nine News. Her work engages with themes of identity, culture, social issues, and the mind-body connection. Her approach is holistic as she explores how the emotional, spiritual, psychological, social and physical interact. She is particularly fascinated by intersectionality and is the founder and host of the (Un)marginalised podcast. Liel identifies as a proud disabled, immigrant, non-conforming femme, and tries to keep up with social media via @LielKBridgford.

(Un)marginalised Podcast

(Un)marginalised reveals the truth about living on the intersection of diverse identities. Created, produced and hosted by Liel K. Bridgford, the show focuses on improving all of our understandings of ourselves and each other.

We’re talking about everything – from sports, fashion, parenthood, mental health, disability, migration and much more. We’re exploring the triumphs, resilience, struggles and joys of our multilayered existence.

We’re challenging myths and encouraging empathy, equity and love. Join us to laugh, cry, enjoy, and learn.

Find the podcast on this website, Apple podcasts, Spotify or anywhere else you get your podcasts.

Season 1Pilot:

In this episode, I talk about why I started this podcast, and what I mean by intersectionality.

Season 1 – Episode 2 with Emily McIntyre:

In this episode I spoke with Emily about frozen bagels, dynamic disabilities, Paralympics, books and more. 

“Someone on instagram has recently started calling it a dynamic disability, which I love…because I might look fine, but then something might happen like cut open a frozen bagel, and I’m out of it for a month. And I think the word disability and being disabled is seen as a permanent thing – Emily McIntyre on the (Un)marginalised Podcast.

Season 1 – Episode 3 with Sue:

In this episode, Sue and I talk about perinatal anxiety and depression, medical racism, mother’s day, proofreading our external identities, and so much more. 

Season 1 – Episode 4 with Pascha:

In this episode Pascha and I talk about self-acceptance and ableism, food addictions, antisemitism, solidarity between marginalised groups, two sizes of shoes and much more. Tune in to hear about what it means to be a disabled person pondering modern hate, and why Pascha talk to strangers about the Russian mafia. 

Season 1 – Episode 5 with Julie G.:

In this episode I laugh hard often, as Julie and I discuss serious issues, including dating and parenting with a disability, body hair, growing up poor and disabled, inclusion, pedicure, ball phobia, and much more! 

[ID: “I find that my mental health is cranky…the accessibility isn’t done gratefully…places are not happy to invite the disabeld…there’s a ramp, so what more do they want?…I still feel unwanted…I guess you don’t want my money, and I spend a lot.” – Julie G. on the (Un)marginalised podcast.]

Season 1 – Episode 6 with Jennifer Hankin:

It was a delight to interview Jennifer Hankin about her experiences of intersectionality. We talked about late Autism diagnosis, fashion, working in the educational system with an invisible disability and more.

[ID: a photo of Jennifer Hankin, a white woman, looking into the camera. She is wearing a rainbow colourful knit, sparkly glasses and various silver jewellery. Her hair is cut above the shoulders and is dark red.]

Season 2 – Episode 1 with Sonja Plitt:

In this episode, I had an enriching conversation with Sonja Plitt. We talk about national perpetrators and victims, intergenerational trauma, gender, labels, how language impacts and shapes reality, cultural shame, mental health and much more. 

[ID: A round framed photo of S.V.Plitt, an agender white person with long hair, wearing a white shirt and rainbow coloured tie. Above the photo is text reading ‘Season 2 Episode 1: SONJA PLITT.’ The background to the frame is faded overlapping tiles in a mix of orange, yellow, and browns, with white letters dispersed across those ]

Season 2 – Episode 2 with Renay Barker-Mulholland:

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Renay Barker-Mulholland. We talked about poetry, parenting, how intersectionality relates to quilts, what does being an artist mean, and gatekeeping.

It was an honour to be the first person to read Renay one of her very own poems, and hear her reaction. We also chatted about the juxtaposition between femininity and roughness, politics, collaborations with our kids, and more.

[ID:2- text reads ‘I want them to know why mum’s getting upset because.. I can’t get on this tram because the wheelchair doesn’t fit on it. I want them to know the reality, but also understand how it impacts our life.’In the bottom right corner is a round photo of Nay.]

In this episode, I spoke with Jess Japuscinski-Evans about sex on premesis access, what’s it like to be queer and disabled, public transport, Activism, allyship, emerging and elders in the arts space, disability-related humour, bringing together the physical disability and psycho-social disability communities, and much more. 

[ID: A round framed photo of Jess, a white smallish woman in a wheelchair. Jess is wearing a black top, colourful necklace and glasses, and is smiling. Above the photo is black text reading ‘ Season 2 Episode 3: JESS KAPUSCINSKI-EVANS’. The background to the frame is faded overlapping tiles in a mix of orange, yellow, and browns, with white letters dispersed across those.]

In this episode of the podcast, I spoke with Zoe Simmons about chronic pain, how weight and gender shapes our experience of the medical system, internalised ableism, changing our relationship with mobility aids, mental health challenges, shame, pride and so much more!

[ID: A round framed photo of Zoe, a woman with pale skin, bright red lipstick, and long pinkish purple hair. She’s standing and smiling in front of a tree with pinkish red flowers. Above the photo is black text reading ‘ Season 2 Episode 4: ZOE SIMMONS’. The background to the frame is faded overlapping tiles in a mix of orange, yellow, and browns, with white letters dispersed across those.]