Gabrielle Drolet

About this episode

Gabrielle Drolet discusses her work as a journalist and essayist, her memoir on chronic pain, and her writing process.

My guest on this episode is Gabrielle Drolet. Gabrielle is a journalist, essayist, and cartoonist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Globe and Mail , New York Times, The Walrus, VICE, Teen Vogue , and more. Her essays on disability have been nominated for a Digital Publishing Award and won gold at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards. Her first book, Look Ma, No Hands: A Chronic Pain Memoir , was published by McClelland & Stewart in 2025, and was a finalist for a 2026 Lambda Literary Award. Journalist Sarah Hagi called the book “a remarkable debut from an incredible voice.” Gabrielle and I talk about some of the more ethically dubious gigs she has taken on as a freelance writer, about writing using voice-to-text software, and how that has changed her style, and about her worries that next book, which is not a memoir, might have less of a hook in comparison with her first. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by  Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Nathan Whitlock

Guest: Gabrielle Drolet

Topics covered

• journalism
• disability
• freelance writing
• memoir
• writing techniques

Keywords

• Gabrielle Drolet
• chronic pain
• freelance writer
• memoir
• writing style

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The New Yorker, Globe and Mail, New York Times, The Walrus, VICE, Teen Vogue, McClelland & Stewart

Books & works: Look Ma, No Hands: A Chronic Pain Memoir

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