Sofia Brizio

Publication day was yesterday so I’m fashionably late to the party as usual, but I’m coming to you with an ugly selfie to say I cannot believe this stunning anthology is finally out in the world 😍. I couldn’t have chosen a better publisher for my first short story and I am so grateful to @lucentdreaming @bethanyhandley_ @meganangharad_ @sioned_erin and everyone involved for making this happen ✨ I hope people read this anthology and take in all the art and experiences of our wonderful Disabled, Deaf and Neurodivergent community. I am so proud of us 💖 (Also massive shout out to @maxwell_modell who encouraged me to submit - this story would still be sitting unfinished in my notebook if it weren’t for you 💕) #disability #disabilityawareness #disabilityrights #bookstagram #activism

When I met @marlenebronzieri I was in a pool and it was race day. @annaafuma had come to film some bits for @po7c_films and brought Marlene with her to take some pictures of me. If there’s anything I learnt after nearly 18 years of swimming is that no one looks good in a swim cap and goggles, so when someone takes pictures of me in the pool I don’t even try to strike a pose. I usually barely acknowledge the camera. I just let my body be, because chances are it’s not going to be a flattering picture of me anyway, and I have my races to think about. It was only when I met Marlene that I realised that’s exactly the point: letting my body be. At the end of the race she told me she loved the way my body looked when I was in the pool - not just in the water, but also on the pool deck before a race. Apparently I looked “natural”, in my element, different from who I am outside of the pool. She wanted to recreate that in a photoshoot. I laughed at first because it seemed absurd. I grew up thinking my body could only ever be beautiful if I controlled it: think carefully about every single movement, sit straight, keep your head up, walk properly, try to look normal even when it feels uncomfortable. But in the pool I didn’t care, and so I did the opposite, letting my body take whatever shape it wanted. Surely that couldn’t be beautiful, let alone worthy of a photoshoot. I’m so glad I said yes and let Marlene prove me wrong. Thank you for capturing the best side of me and producing some stunning promotional material for Power of The Current. I can’t wait for the world to see this film 💙 Please keep supporting us at the fundraiser link in my bio 🏊🏻‍♀️ #disability #disabilityarts #photography #disabilityawareness #disabilityhistorymonth

🎬Film Trailer: POWER OF THE CURRENT 📍Wales/Italy 🏆 Now officially selected for the @londonbreezefilmfestival 🏅nominated for Best Documentary and winner of an Honorary Award @breakingtvfilmfestival 2025 Following the intriguing and brilliant @sofia_brizio on the highs and lows of what could be her final year as an amateur para-swimmer. Join us as we get a glimpse into the world of Italian Amateur Para-swimming and tackle topics from disability discrimination to Identity and belonging. To learn more visit our website. All links in bio. PD: @alexiajbarrett Italy unit Director/Camera Operator: @annaafuma Editor: @_mattjclark DOP: @duncanbirnie Underwater Camera: @cat.wildwaters Safety Supervisor: @diverjennylord Runner: @talentedjuan Music: @crichtonmusic Italy unit Camera Operator: @nicolodenunzio Italy Unit Camera Operator: @_youwanna_ Animator: @shreya.fla

What a lovely launch party we had last night to celebrate The Waters That Raised Us 🌊✨. Congratulations @tayloredmonds on a truly wonderful and unique anthology. It was such a privilege to be involved and share the space with fellow writers @moedwards_ @cjwagstaff1 @joshuajoneswrites @kathrynellentann . I have so much love for this book and everyone involved! Thank you so much @serenbooks @brhp.1980 and everyone who came to celebrate with us 💙 📸 @jadebradforduk @tayloredmonds

Congratulations on the launch of The Waters That Raised Us - a new collection which asks us to consider how the waters we love alongside shape who we are and connect us to one another. Edited by @tayloredmonds the collection features essays from @joshuajonesphotos , @kathrynellentann , @moedwards_ , @sofia_brizio , @cjwagstaff1 , @durre_s , @dylan__huw and @francesca.ree 🌊

Happy publication day to The Waters That Raised Us! 💙✨. Congratulations @tayloredmonds , @serenbooks and everyone involved on a truly amazing anthology (and I’m not saying it because my writing is in it!). I think it’s fitting that it comes out today as I flew to Italy to compete at the paraswimming nationals/World Series in a few days 🏊🏻‍♀️. It kept me company on the plane and calmed the slight anxiety I still feel before a race even after all these years. Some stories made me shed a tear, others made me feel seen and understood, and overall I felt so much love and warmth for Wales. I feel so grateful to be part of this amazing group of writers and so proud of what we did. In my essay, I talk about what water means to me as a paraswimmer, how it changed my life with a disability but also how sometimes I have a complicated relationship with it because of climate change. Water did really raise me - it made me who I am, it is who I am, and I feel so lucky to have been able to spend first my childhood and now occasionally my adulthood in the Italian and French waters pictured here. Writing this essay was a wonderful challenge as I’d never written about water before, it had always been the only part of my life that I didn’t dare put into words. With every word I typed, I kept thinking about 8-year-old me who dreamt of winning medals and writing for a living. She’d be proud to know that both her dreams came true. Huge thanks to @tayloredmonds for guiding me through the editing process with so much care and respect to produce a piece I’m really proud of 💕. To all the writers involved, I am in awe of and consistently inspired by your talent. Can’t wait to celebrate together at the launch event!

𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 will be screening online as part of our new programme 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺: 𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗟 𝗛𝗘𝗥 Some currents pull you under. Others carry you forward. In 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧, Italian para-swimmer Sofia Brizio navigates discrimination, identity, and an uncertain future in the sport she loves. Balancing her independence in the UK with her swimming career in Italy, Sofia pushes through the tides of expectation as everything builds toward what could be her final competitive season. Directed by Alexia Barrett, a 26-year-old Black British emerging filmmaker passionate about telling real, resonant stories. After working on popular series including Bargain Hunt (BBC One), Fake or Fortune? (BBC One), and First Dates(Channel 4), Alexia founded PO7C Films to create work on her own terms. 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 marks her directorial debut. £10 pass for 12 films
 Streaming Sun 8 Mar for one week only
 🔗 Book now via link in bio #reelher #powerofthecurrent #internationalwomensday @alexiajbarrett @sofia_brizio @annaafuma @duncanbirnie.tv @diverjennylord @shreya.fla

March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month and I got the opportunity to chat with my friend @ciaranfitzgerald27 on his amazing Palsy Podcast. It was my first full unedited podcast appearance so apologies for rambling on, you have permission to listen on 2x speed 😂. But that’s what happens when you get comfortable and feel seen, so thank you so much again Ciaran for having me. Things we talked about include: - swimming 🏊🏻‍♀️ - what it was like making a documentary with the wonderful @alexiajbarrett @po7c_films 💙 (also reminder that you’ll be able to watch Power of The Current at @londonbreezefilmfestival on International Women’s Day ✨) - doing a PhD (aka having no clue what I’m doing) - being published by @lucentdreaming last year, and my upcoming essay in @tayloredmonds anthology (@serenbooks ) - being always tired 😴 You can listen at the link in my stories and on your preferred platform 💚

Lovely quick trip to London earlier this week with @thefootlessflautist to see the Design and Disability exhibition at the V&A. What an amazing space to feel understood as a disabled person and learn about the life-changing potential of design (and the key role of activism within it!). My favourite part was definitely learning about tactile news! 🗞️✨. As amazing as the exhibition was, I’ve been reading on social media about how some disabled people, especially blind people, have not felt fully included in it and encountered accessibility issues. It’s amazing to finally have disability history included in museums, but this taught me we have such a long way to go to become fully inclusive. Not pictured, my first trip to the British Library where I got to be a nerd for a few hours 🤓📚 📸 @thefootlessflautist ✨

The January gloom has officially set in for me, so I thought it’d be a good time to reflect on 2025. I spent NYE with my closest friends and we made an ‘achievement cake’ where we each stuck our recent achievements on the cake while clapping and cheering for each other. It struck me how difficult it was to think about my own achievements but how easy I found it to suggest achievements for my friends to put on the cake. 2025 was an amazing year, but it was also the year I was in a lot of physical pain and was forced to actually take care of my body, dedicating 4+ hours each day to physiotherapy and training (and getting frustrated about it). When you get to the end of the year as exhausted as I did, it’s easy to focus on the negative and not realise your successes. I became a published author and I have more writing coming out this year. 7-year-old me wouldn’t believe it ❤️. I love my silly little academic life even though it sometimes makes me cry. I started learning BSL and loved it. Power of the Current premiered in the U.K. and won an award - I am so lucky to work with people like @alexiajbarrett and the @po7c_films team ✨. I also failed spectacularly at some goals I set for myself, realised I won’t finish my PhD on time, got rejected for some stuff I really wanted, and generally hated the state of the world 99% of the time. I’m starting 2026 with immense gratitude for my friends, my family, and my job that allows me to do what I love every day; but also a lot of tiredness and anxiety and fear of failure and scepticism. Hoping for a better future, once I’m out of this January gloom 🤞🏻✨

Finalmente a casa per Natale, ho trovato ad aspettarmi il libro di @_elisabelotti , @paola_lazzarini_orru e @lognoccosupremo “La Chiesa che (non) ci vuole” (@edizionitlon ), dove si parla anche di chiesa e disabilità. Ho scritto un piccolo contributo sulla mia esperienza di infanzia e adolescenza nella chiesa cattolica e del sentirmi in gran parte rifiutata da essa e dal suo abilismo che va da giudizi sgraditi e violenze all’inaccessibilità fisica dei luoghi di culto. Ad oggi non mi definisco cattolica e non credo ci potrà mai essere davvero spazio all’interno della Chiesa per tutte quelle persone disabili che hanno in gran parte decostruito il proprio abilismo interiorizzato. Nonostante ciò, mi tuffo in questo libro con curiosità e mente aperta, certa che ne uscirò arricchita e con la voglia di coltivare nuove idee ✨ Ringrazio come sempre l’amica e collega @_elisabelotti per avermi dato la possibilità di raccontare la mia esperienza in un libro che sono certa toccherà moltissime persone, religiose e non. È stato bello riflettere su argomenti di cui non avevo mai parlato prima e di cui forse continuerò a parlare poco, ma che mi hanno sorpresa e spinta a pensare in modi diversi e inaspettati 💜

Ho sottoscritto questa lettera insieme a tante altre persone disabili e alleate, perché ogni scelta ha delle conseguenze. Il 4 dicembre abbiamo inviato questa lettera alla direzione de @la_stampa . Non avendo mai ricevuto risposta, ci troviamo oggi a constatare - con amarezza e preoccupazione - che il quotidiano non ha ritenuto di accogliere una richiesta legittima di confronto da parte di esponenti della stessa comunità a cui dichiarava di rivolgersi. Per questo motivo rendiamo pubblica, in autonomia, la nostra presa di parola. Lo facciamo perché crediamo che il dibattito sia troppo importante per essere messo a tacere con tanta superficialità. Se anche tu pensi che il confronto aperto e responsabile sia un valore irrinunciabile, firma la nostra lettera e sostieni questa richiesta di trasparenza e ascolto. Puoi firmare all’indirizzo: /view/appello-lastampa che trovi in bio e nelle storie.