ABOUT


SICK is an independent, thoughtful magazine exploring illness and disability, founded & edited by Olivia Spring and designed by Kaiya Waerea. Founded in Norwich, UK in 2019, we are currently based in Maine, USA and London, UK. We typically publish one issue per year.

SICK is committed to elevating the voices of sick & disabled people by publishing essays, features, poetry, visual art, interviews, and more. Our aim is to increase representation of sick & disabled people in publishing and the arts and to challenge the harmful stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding disability. We work in and with our slowness, pausing and resting when we need to. We believe, listen to, and support each other. We reject productivity as means of value and celebrate our sick & disabled bodies. Learn more about our work by reading interviews and reviews on our press page.

Issue 6 is out now!

OUR TEAM


Olivia Spring, Founder & Editor
Born and raised in NYC, Olivia moved to London to study journalism at Goldsmiths University in 2015. After moving to Norwich upon graduation, she launched the first issue of SICK in 2019. In 2020, Olivia found herself back in the US and has lived in Maine ever since. She manages all day-to-day operations from her home while design and print, alongside partial fulfillment and distribution, remain in the UK.

Olivia spends most of her free time working on SICK in varying capacities in addition to dreaming big dreams about the magazine’s future. She is working on a memoir exploring illness, fatigue, and disbelief, collects and sells vintage clothing, and is mom to her rescue dog, Black Bean.

Kaiya Waerea, Designer
Kaiya and Olivia met in the planning stages of issue 01 and Kaiya has designed every issue since, along with merchandise including pins, posters, tote bags, calendars, t-shirts, stickers, and more. Kaiya has also worked as an assistant editor since issue 3, supporting Olivia in selecting contributions to the mag.

Kaiya is a writer, designer and publisher from Aotearoa, now living in London. His research is concerned with crip feminist methodologies, indigenous knowledge production, and print culture. His writing has been featured in Errant Journal: Learning from our Ancestors, AIGA Eye on Design and others. Kaiya co-runs feminist press Sticky Fingers Publishing alongside Sophie Paul.

Catriona Morton, Copy editor
Catriona is a British-Irish writer, editor, and producer. Originally from Manchester, UK, she now lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her first book, ‘The Way We Survive: Notes on Rape Culture’ was published in 2021 and her work has appeared in Refinery29, WIRED, and the BBC.

She lives with multiple chronic illnesses, which means SICK is one of her favourite projects to work on, and has been working as a freelance copy editor for SICK in an increasing capacity since Issue 3 in 2021.

Hannah Barry, Assistant
Hannah is the newest addition to the SICK team, working as an assistant to Olivia. They primarily take care of the day-to-day emails, fulfil orders, read through submissions, and support the process of SICK issues becoming realities.

Hannah is a chronically ill weirdo who uses they/them pronouns and is from Old Town, Maine. Find them representing SICK at book and zine fairs throughout Maine!