Rachel Kolb
“We all have the right to language and the right to understand what’s being said around us, and we also have the responsibility to make sure that our work and ideas are accessible to the other people we meet. Hearing people benefit from access, too — not least via gaining their own access to Deaf perspectives, contributions, interactions, and ideas!”
“An honest and immersive examination of language, voice, speech, and the murky lines that tether and separate them. Required reading for parents, educators, and anyone seeking a new perspective on human communication and connection.”
“Articulate is a tender, sharp-witted, and intellectually rigorous story of identity, and about finding one’s true voice in a culture that needs to be taught how to listen. A beautifully written and moving account of what it means to live in an extraordinary body in these extraordinary times.”
“This engaging, enlightening, and affecting book will make you rethink what it is to make yourself known to another. The result is a powerful contemplation of the human voice, and thus the human experience. Articulate is a true gift.”
Rachel Kolb is a writer whose work explores communication, language, and disability as central components of human experience. Her first book is Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice, coming from Ecco in September 2025. Her work has appeared in The New York Times and The Atlantic, among other publications.
A graduate of Stanford University, she was the first signing deaf Rhodes scholar at Oxford before receiving her Ph.D. in English literature from Emory University and then completing a junior fellowship in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University.
In a recent interview, Kolb was asked to describe her coming-of-age into what it means to be a deaf writer. She responded, “I’ve always loved to write, but I still remember a time when I had no idea that there were other deaf writers out there, and when I often felt bewildered by the reductive tropes I encountered about deafness in my childhood reading (as one brief example, think of still-common English phrases like “turning a deaf ear to” and so forth). I’m glad I’ve moved past that confusing stage in my life — there are several wonderful deaf writers working today, even if I’d like to see even more of them, and I’ve also seen how much narrative richness there is in deaf experience. Still, a big part of writing this book was chronicling my own journey into my adult writerly self, including devising new ways to play around with written words on the page, which has been fun and liberating.”
In her free time, Rachel enjoys the outdoors, long conversations, pleasure reading, travel, museums, new fun facts, and spicy food.
Open and right-click to download
© Josephine Sittenfeld
Book Jacket
