About Us

Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature (ISSN: 2690-7089) is a digital, Open Access, biannual journal of disability poetry, literature, and the arts, with two interconnected purposes. First, we are dedicated to providing an accessible venue for featuring the work of emerging and well-known writers and other creatives with disabilities (disabled writers and creatives). Second, we seek to make available and expand a searchable core of this work for interested readers (with and without disabilities) who are committed to disability poetry, literature, and the arts across a variety of media.

Since there are many different kinds and varied experiences of physical, cognitive, intellectual, emotional, psychological, reading, and other disabilities, we adopt a “cross-disabilities” perspective in our publication philosophy and practices. D/deaf, D/disabled, Crip, Mad, Chronically Ill, Spoonie, Sick, and Neurodivergent (including Autistic) writers and creative artists are especially encouraged to submit their work for publication consideration. While Wordgathering gives preference to the work of writers and other creative contributors with disabilities, our editorial team welcomes anyone’s well-crafted work that is submitted in accordance with our Submission Guidelines. We unequivocally support and welcome the creative work of BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, young, elder, and working class writers and artists.

Please note that our ongoing, special features—Reading Loop and Gatherer’s Blog—are by invitation only. (Reading Loop is a close reading or discussion by a contributor; Gatherer’s Blog provides emergent as well as seasoned writers with opportunities to reflect upon aspects of their own writing processes.)

Underscoring the importance of wide audiences seeking and finding disabled writers’ and artists’ works, effective June 2020, Wordgathering began publishing work under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license, which allows readers to view/access, download, and share the work (with proper attribution), but nothing else, without permission of the creator; all other rights remain with the creator. Please visit Frequently Asked Questions about Open Access, our Creative Commons license, and Fair Use for more information. If you have questions or concerns about this license, please contact us at wordgathering@syr.edu

Wordgathering had a quarterly publishing schedule from its inception in 2007 until 2023. In early 2023, the editorial team changed the publication schedule to a biannual / semiannual one. Issues will now be published in summer and winter. Further information about submission “windows” and reading periods for submitted works in various genres can be found in our detailed submission guidelines. Please contact us at wordgathering@syr.edu if you have any questions.

Wordgathering was founded in March 2007 by members of the Inglis House Poetry Workshop, a collaborative of writers with disabilities who reside at Inglis House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The workshop, established in 1998, met weekly, sharing and critiquing poetry for almost two decades. The collaborative worked to promote the writing of poets with disabilities through the annual Inglis House Poetry Contest and its chapbook productions. Michael Northen served as Editor-in-Chief from the journal’s founding in March 2007 until January 2020, when Diane R. Wiener assumed the role. (Michael and Diane co-edited the December 2019 issue.)

Underlined content throughout Wordgathering is hyperlinked (each underlined element is a clickable link), leading to further aspects of the content shared. Any questions about accessibility can be addressed by emailing us at: wordgathering@syr.edu.

Please note that the opinions and perspectives shared by our contributors (in their published work or elsewhere) do not necessarily align with or reflect the opinions and perspectives held by the members of the journal’s editorial and administrative team.

Wordgathering is hosted and made possible through a collaboration between the Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach at Syracuse University’s Burton Blatt Institute and the Syracuse University Libraries. Wordgathering is proudly affiliated with the Disability Literature Consortium, a group of small literary magazines for writers with disabilities.