Award-winning author and poet Fiona Murphy recounts her journey from trying to conceal her deafness from others to accepting deaf culture as an integral part of her identity.

As a child, Fiona Murphy was diagnosed with unilateral deafness, or deafness in one ear.

Murphy struggled with her diagnosis well into adulthood, trying to hide her deafness from peers and often doubting whether she belonged in mainstream education.

As an award-winning poet and trained physiotherapist, Murphy now teaches creative writing and works on spreading awareness about deaf culture and disability equality.

Murphy's works have appeared in the Guardian, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue, and many other publications.

In The Shape of Sound, Murphy recounts her experience with stigma and her journey to embracing her deaf identity and deaf culture.