‘Pain demands to be felt’: Author John Green’s quote a constant reminder to writer Sherry Toh

Who: Sherry Toh Yee Teng, 28, is a writer and recipient of the Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards in 2025, which recognises the achievements of those with disabilities.

Diagnosed at 13 months with spinal muscular atrophy type II, a rare genetic neuromuscular condition, she discovered her love for role-playing video games when using a console to maintain muscle strength. She is now pursuing a career as a game writer, aiming to bring diversity to both the physical and virtual worlds. 

In 2023, Toh contributed an essay on gaming accessibility to Singapore’s first disability studies anthology,

Not Without Us

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 and spoke at the Singapore Writers Festival. She co-published children’s book Loud Little Mermaids (2024), illustrated by Aaron Yap, with disability arts non-profit ART:DIS.

“My attention is currently split between two books: Sanford Meisner On Acting by Sanford Meisner and Dennis Longwell (1987), and Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green (2025).

I picked up On Acting after being introduced to the Meisner technique by ART:DIS, when I joined rehearsals for its 2025 Beyond Dis:play theatre showcase. I wasn’t a trained actor and I wanted to do as much homework as possible to make things easier for everyone. Unfortunately, I was too exhausted from the rehearsals towards the end, so I’m still going through it.

This is similar with Everything Is Tuberculosis. I picked it up to understand how I can better advocate for rights to healthcare, but life got in the way multiple times.

I prefer Richard Boleslawski’s script format in Acting: The First Six Lessons (1933) to On Acting’s traditional third-person perspective as a learner. But I do love that the latter points out that Meisner continued teaching even when he was disabled.

Everything Is Tuberculosis does a great job of making a worldwide medical issue personal, but I echo the critics who say it could dive deeper.

I usually read before bed on my mobile phone. Evenings are the only time I have fully to myself. Once the lights dim, I will read whatever my brain allows. I tell myself doing a little is better than nothing.

Home is the best place for me to read. It is the most convenient, set up-wise. I don’t have to think about how many pillows I will need to prop my phone up. And when I am out, I am out. I prefer to exist in the moment whether I am on a walk or reading.

‘Pain demands to be felt’ from John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars (2012) is not a ‘favourite’, but it is a quote that clings to my mind. Not just because I live with chronic pain, but because good things have come from me trying to address different pains in life.

I also think of this line in Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow (2022) often: ‘I loved working with you better than I liked the idea of making love to you. Because true collaborators in this life are rare.’ It is a familiar sentiment after all the collaborators I have fortunately had. None of them are romantic, yet most of them feel bigger than life.

I like the idea that creation is what you do when you love too much to contain the feeling.

Fiction-wise, I adore everything by Jessie Burton. For poetry, a tiny space by fifi coo (2018) and 

Patient History by Tricia Tan

(2024). For non-fiction, it is Mary Kenney’s Gamer Girls: 25 Women Who Built The Video Games Industry (2022).

An honourable mention should go to the video game Tiny Bookshop by neoludic games. You play as a bookseller who has tons of recommendations of real books.

The Libby app, National Library and Internet Archive are invaluable resources for me. I now buy books only if I cannot find an e-book format to borrow from these sources.

As much as the intoxicating scent of a new book is inimitable, I unfortunately don’t have the mobility to flip pages on my own now. I do miss it.”