Event details
SPU Disability Support Services
No Limits, No Boundaries
presents
An Evening with Author Jason M. Thornberry
April 11, 2022
5:30–7 p.m.
Nickerson Studios
Light refreshments
If you need accommodations for this event please contact DSS at 206.281.2272 or dss@spu.edu.
A biannual event presented by SPU’s Disability Support Services, No Limits, No Boundaries is a celebration of difference and diversity that spotlights artistic expression and the commitment of community leaders to access, inclusion, and reconciliation. In the past, programs have spotlighted State Senator (later Lieutenant Governor) Cyrus Habib, ADA architect and principal of Studio Pacifica Karen Braitmayer, and have included an evening of movie shorts, and storytelling by students with disabilities. This year’s awardee is Jason M. Thornberry, an SPU graduate and employee whose journey to recovery and writing will be the focus of the evening.
Jason M. Thornberry’s work appears in The Los Angeles Review of Books, North Dakota Quarterly, The Stranger, and elsewhere. Jason is the survivor of a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic epilepsy — a life-changing experience abruptly terminating his quest to become a professional musician.
One evening, a pair of strangers attacked Jason outside of a party, beating him into a coma, leaving him for dead. His band’s debut album was released the next day. When he finally awoke, Jason was unable to walk or speak. He spent a year in a wheelchair before returning to school.
Jason received a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Seattle Pacific University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Chapman University. He lives with his wife in Seattle. Jason is currently finishing his first novel, and he works and teaches at SPU. His writing focuses on family, disability, and social justice.