Adiba Nelson is an award-winning, best-selling author, speaker, burlesque performer, star of the Emmy Award-winning documentary, “The Full Nelson”, literary activist, and mother to her sassy, hilarious, disabled teen daughter, Emory.
Often quoted as saying “Vulnerability can save your life if you let it”, Adiba’s memoir, “Ain’t That A Mother” is proof of that. However, Adiba is not just a memoirist. She is also a prolific children’s book author and literary activist. Having published her debut children’s book, Meet ClaraBelle Blue, in 2013, and selling over 7,000 copies WORLDWIDE, Adiba is committed to increasing the diversity seen in children’s literature. Every children’s book she writes is led by a disabled child of color living life as any child would. After not being able to find any books her daughter could see herself in a a toddler, Adiba made it her mission to ensure that disabled children of color saw themselves in as many books as possible. For a child, seeing themselves represented in the world around fosters a sense of pride, value, and belonging - and Adiba believes that every child deserves to feel that. So much so that she recently closed two book deals with MacMillan Kids featuring Black and AfroLatin disabled girls. Her next book, Oshun & Me: A Story of Love and Braidswill be released in 2025, and Hazel’s Best Day will hit shelves in 2026.
In addition to all of this, Adiba is also a longtime NPR/AZPM contributor, freelance journalist and essayist, having bylines with Parents (and each of their verticals), The Washington Post, MadameNoire, HuffPost, and Ravishly. Because of her writing accomplishments, in 2023 Adiba was chosen as the first Black Writer-In-Residence for Pima County Public Library in Tucson, AZ. Next up: developing her memoir into a multi-season television series. Stay tuned!
