Some of you might have been hearing buzz on Twitter/seeing stuff on Facebook/seeing other info around the Interwebs about the ANCA 2010 Inaugural International Naturally Autistic Awards. The award ceremony was held yesterday in Vancouver, BC. Awards were given in several categories to both adult and youth arists on the autism spectrum, as well as community leader awards. A list of the award recipients, along with other info, is in this post on my blog, Woman With Asperger's: http://womanwithaspergers.com/2010/10/31/thank-you-anca/ I received the Adult International Literary Award for an unpublished collection of poems, "Novena".

My fiance and I were not able to attend the ceremony, but I had an opportunity to call in and speak to one of the founders, Leonora Gregory-Collura, as well as some of the other award winners via Ralph Watley's Blog Talk Radio Broadcast last night. It was a really moving experience, to hear the other award winners, to hear the excitement in the room, and to hear how happy people were about this event. This was historic on so many levels, especially considering that this is the one of the first events of its kind to recognise artistic talent in people on the spectrum. I was thrilled, honored, and overjoyed to be in such company and to know that my work touched people...and that it matters.

I wanted to share this news on AWN. I encourage everyone to visit the blog post and read more about the event. I've also posted a video of me reading one of the poems from the collection, "You Don't See It". And there is more info about ANCA is here: http://naturallyautistic.com