This issue includes the inauguration of “Disability Futures in the Arts,” a vibrant, new project on the disability arts and culture, sponsored by a prestigious grant awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. As a component of this three-year, multi-project grant, Special Guest Editor, Prof. Kenny Fries, will curate and edit a series of 15 invited essays by disabled artists to be published in Wordgathering—in three sections (five essays, each) and sequences (during December 2020, 2021-22, and 2022-23). Read more about this groundbreaking initiative with Prof. Fries, in the Syracuse University News story.
We are thrilled and honored to bring into the world the first glorious five of these 15 essays, accompanied by an introductory essay by Prof. Fries. These five essays are intellectually and emotionally cutting-edge; they are deep, iconoclastic, and engaging. Readers are likely to be affected by the brilliant variety of authorial styles as well as by the work’s individual and collective excellence.
Each of the following sections is accompanied by an audio recording of that section.
Contents include:
- Filling the Empty Chair: An Introduction to “Disability Futures in the Arts” by Kenny Fries
- The Crip Couture Manifesto by Chun-shan (Sandie) Yi
- Refusing Recovery in the “Palace of Disease” by Travis Chi Wing Lau
- Remembering the Now: Documentation and Invention in Queer and Trans Disabled Film by Sandra Alland
- Definition: A Praxis by Jerron Herman
- Aesthetics of Horizontal Access – An Ode to Lying Down in Art Spaces by Noa Winter
“Disability Futures in the Arts” is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts/Conseil des arts du Canada.
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Wordgathering is open to work that makes a contribution to disability literature. Writers interested in submitting essays for publication consideration should first send a query to wordgathering@syr.edu describing the proposed piece and how it relates to disability literature. Please submit work only after receiving editorial confirmation regarding submission(s). For more information, please visit our Submission Guidelines.