Nottingham author launches new book set in the city around neurodiversity

The book which is set in between Nottingham and Ireland is being launched at an event at Five Leaves Bookshop on Wednesday, July 26 at 7pm. CJ DeBarra is a non-binary, queer journalist and author from Cork, Ireland who is based in Nottingham.

Their first book, NeuroQueer: a neurodivergent guide to love, sex and everything in between, examines the link between sex and relationships and being neurodiverse, drawing on DeBarra’s own experiences with ADHD.

They said: “I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 10 in Ireland in the 90’s. There wasn’t much information at that time so I never really learned what this meant for me or what this would look like. In fact, I only ever really heard my ADHD discussed negatively when it was affecting my school work or behaviour so I grew up feeling quite negative about it.

“I realised that around relationships in particular no one had ever told me what might be more difficult for me. It was really refreshing to research more about it and also, I started to speak to other non-binary, transgender and women who were reporting similar traits and experiences.”

NeuroQueer is a non-fiction book published by Global Words Press that draws upon CJ DeBarra’s own experiences as well as academic research, medical studies and the lived experience of other queer ADHD individuals.

The book also has a wider focus, exploring why diagnosis rates are so low for women, transgender and non-binary folk and the impact this can have.

DeBarra said: “I knew diagnosis rates were low but I was shocked at how many people were waiting on their GPs, NHS or had gone private out of desperation to get some answers. Many were really keen to speak about their experiences and I started to notice how many women, non-binary and transgender people were just not part of the research. A lot of the studies, especially the older ones, are based on the answers of boys and men.”

CJ DeBarra started writing NeuroQueer during lockdown after finding they had a lot of free time on their hands. During lockdown, with their family in Ireland, a recent split with a partner and moving to a new house by themselves, they started writing the book due to the quiet.

They said: “I didn’t really fancy getting involved with sourdough and pub quizzes got boring quite quickly. I’m a journalist during the day so I’m used to writing but even so, I was surprised about how much I got done. It wasn’t until six months in that I realised I’d written a book.

“Writing a book in lockdown was incredibly hard. I would arrange to go see someone to discuss their ADHD or I would need to go visit shops to see how they dealt with neurodivergent people. At one stage, I was invited to a group in London who dealt with the topic of sex and neurodiversity. Just as I had arranged to go, Nottingham was plunged into Tier 3 restrictions and I couldn’t leave the city. So if this had been written at any other point, it would have been so done so differently. But, it is what it is and the lockdown experience is a big part of it.”

Five Leaves Bookshop is hosting a fully sold-out book launch on 26 July and will be publishing DeBarra’s second and third books in July 2024. The author expressed how excited they were to have a book launching in a beloved bookstore like Five Leaves.

They said: “I have lived in Nottingham for ten years and this is my home just as much as Ireland is now. I couldn’t be prouder of the city and to have the chance to not only sell my book at Five Leaves but to launch it there feels incredible. Five Leaves is a Nottingham institution and to see my book there among other authors I respect is wild.”

NeuroQueer soft launched on 1 July and is officially available on Kindle and in paperback from 26 July. The book can be purchased from Amazon, Five Leaves Bookstore, and the author’s website and is also available in local bookshops.