Vancouver resident Victor Griggs, who has cerebral palsy, never realized the power of his voice until he began expressing himself through the written word.
He recently released a 64-page book of prose and poetry entitled “Rolling Through Life” that he wrote over the course of four years on his iPhone.
“The power of prose has given me a voice — that voice rings clear in these pages,” Griggs writes in the book’s introduction.
In the book, he reflects on love, friendship and grappling with the feeling of solitude amid COVID-19.
Get the book
“Rolling Through Life” by Victor Griggs is available in paperback for $15.95 on Amazon, as well as at Birdhouse Books at 1001 Main St., Suite B, Vancouver.
“People believe that disabled people don’t feel certain things, or we can’t do this, so I wanted to show that we do,” Griggs said. “No matter who you are, we are whether you have a disability or not, your thoughts, feelings and emotions matter.”
COVID was the catalyst, Griggs explained. He’d always been interested in writing, but it didn’t become an outlet for him until the pandemic started.
“I thought ‘I’m no good, and people are not gonna enjoy my writing,’ ” he said.
Griggs said writing and later publishing this book required a certain level of vulnerability — but he welcomed it.
In those beginning months of the pandemic, when health experts encouraged outdoor activities as a safe way to interact, feelings of solitude weighed heavy on Griggs. He was either in his chair or in his bed. The poem entitled “Prison” details this experience of feeling shut off from the world: “I’m in prison, but I’ve committed no crime/ O’ when will I be set free from these chains of mine?”
“It doesn’t matter what other people think about what you write,” Griggs said. “What matters is that you enjoy it.”
Rolling through life
Griggs, 36, was born and raised in Vancouver and diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 3 months old. Growing up, Griggs drew support from family and friends, including Erin Lynch, his best friend of 10 years, who designed the cover of the book and helped with the publishing process.
The cover features an outline of Griggs’ eyes underlaid by red and black, meant to capture the essence of feeling confined.
“I ended up really going for that red color, you know, because there is a lot of angst and emotion within the color red,” Lynch said. “Then also his image: taking that and then shadowing it and layering it so that it gets darker and darker to represent this period of time that he spent during COVID.”
With a background in graphic design and editing, Lynch also supported Griggs through the publishing process. Originally, the two planned to have the book sold in big retail stores like Powell’s and Barnes and Noble but couldn’t overlook the importance of having the book available locally. Griggs reached out to Birdhouse Books, a vintage bookstore in downtown Vancouver, which added the book to its stock.
In the introduction and epilogue of “Rolling Through Life,” Griggs dedicates these sections to his family who have always been there for him. He wants to continue writing and has already started his next book, but he’ll never forget the feeling of receiving a hard copy of his writing for the first time.
“For the first time in my life, I felt like I really accomplished something. Of course, it’s not perfect, but there’s room to grow,” he said. “My hope is that through this book and my poetry, that shines brighter than anything else.”
