Volume 18, Number 2 – Winter 2024-2025

Welcome to Wordgathering‘s Winter 2024-2025 issue—aka Issue 68a. As Editor-in-Chief, I am grateful for ongoing and outstanding collaborative support from my esteemed colleagues at Syracuse University, Patrick Williams, Dylan Mohr, and Steve Kuusisto. Thanks, too, to Dr. Kate Deibel for behind-the-scenes assistance to ensure and advance Wordgathering‘s accessibility and engagement.

As we were getting ready to “go live” with this issue, Assistant Editor Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri and I were again discussing how our goal is to center and advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) with every action we take and every decision we make at Wordgathering. Incredibly, December 2024 marked five years since Wordgathering transitioned to its new publication home at Syracuse University—with thanks to the journal’s long-time Editor-in-Chief, Michael Northen. We will continue to maintain the archived legacy issues of Wordgathering from before December 2019, when Syracuse University’s Office of Interdisciplinary Programs and Outreach at the Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) and Syracuse University Libraries assumed publication of the journal. The legacy issues are presented in their original HTML formatting until they can be properly transitioned to the current site. It has come to our attention that some of the legacy content may have become corrupted due to circumstances beyond our control. We are currently addressing this matter. If you come across a page, section, etc. that seems compromised, please email us at wordgathering@syr.edu with the email subject “legacy issues.” Thank you. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Immense gratitude goes, as always, to our exemplary editorial team: Assistant Editor, Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri; Flash Memoir Editor, Dan Simpson; Gatherer’s Blog Editor, Ona Gritz; Prose Editor, Sean J. Mahoney; Poetry Editor, Emily K. Michael; and Assistant Book Reviews Editor, Kate Champlin. And thanks, forever and always, to our Special Guest Editor (2020-2023), Kenny Fries.

This issue’s Gatherer’s Blog was written by Ona Gritz. In this candid, bold, and heartfelt essay, Ona addresses her experiences of, reflections on, and responses to internalized ableism in the context of her writing adventures as she endeavored to write and publish the now widely and deservedly admired, The Space You Left Behind. There is no Reading Loop in this issue. If all goes as planned, we will publish two Reading Loops in the Summer 2025 issue.

Daniel Bratton, Kate Champlin, Liv Mammone, Michael Northen, Charlotte Price, and Chanika Svetvilas and Jennifer Cabral-Pierce provided our ten book reviews for Issue 68a. Svetvilas and Cabral-Pierce creatively include a conversation as part of their review process. Additionally, please check out an entirely conversational book review by Court Ludwick and Romy Rhoads Ewing in our interviews section. We continue to receive many requests for book reviews. Consequently, we decided for this year (and for the second time!) to create a “book reviews supplement.” To be designated as Volume 18, Issue 2s (“s” for “supplement”), aka Issue 68b, the Spring 2025 supplement will include 11 book reviews and review essays. The Summer 2025 issue (Volume 19, Issue 1) will also include a bunch of book reviews, as will our Winter 2025-2026 issue (Volume 19, Issue 2). If you would like to join our book reviewers team, please write to me at wordgathering@syr.edu. Unfortunately, at the present time, we do not have funds to compensate any of our contributors—including reviewers.

The poems “The Summer I Couldn’t Read” by Diane Driedger; “A Way Station” by Nicholas S. Racheotes; “Starting with the Natural World,” “Disfigurement,” and “Adaptation” by Barbara Ellen Sorensen; “The Day I Turned 77 – Aug. 24,” “The Water Women,” and “I Am the Girl” by Laureen Summers”; and “Self-Contained” and “Flipping the Script” by Roy Wahlberg were audio recorded by me. Other poems were audio recorded by the poets themselves.

Our labors of love in Disability poetry, literature, arts, and culture would not be possible without Steve Taylor. The world lost this luminary a bit over ten years ago, on November 8, 2014. This issue of Wordgathering includes a magnificent tribute to Professor Steven J. Taylor, written by his long-time friend, collaborator, student, mentee, and employee, our wonderful Assistant Editor, Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri. This issue of Wordgathering is dedicated to and honors the memories of Steve, frequent contributor Edward “Ed” N. White, and Society for Disability Studies leaders Devva Kasnitz and Barbara Altman.

The Summer 2024 issue, dedicated to Kathi Wolfe, mentioned that the Winter 2024-2025 issue would include a special section, “Honoring and Celebrating Kathi Wolfe.” This special section includes poetry by Michael Northen (audio recorded by Michael) and Laureen Summers (audio recorded by yours truly), a reflection by Sheila Black, and a catalog of Kathi’s Wordgathering contributions (compiled by Michael Northen with assistance from Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri).

Several colleagues and friends of Kathi Wolfe’s asked me to share some additional information of interest with regard to Kathi’s longstanding activist work. On July 23, 2024, the Takoma Park radio station, WOWD (94.3 FM), re-broadcasted Carolivia Herron’s conversation with Kathi. (We encourage you to reach out to WOWD to request a transcript.) Thanks to Cynthia Jones, William Stothers, and Mary Lou Breslin, Mainstream Magazine published an oral history transcript of Kathi’s 1980s remarks, “Chronicling National Disability Politics.” Additionally, I hope that you will visit The Heumann Perspective podcast episode, during which Judy and Kathi discuss “How Art Feeds Us.”

My friends often remind me to find moments of joy in the midst of deep struggle. In that spirit, as we reflect simultaneously on those we have lost and continue to fight alongside and for everyone who is imperiled or at risk, here is some good news to share:

  • We learned recently about the Global Heumann Fellowship, and encourage you, our beloved readers, visitors, and comrades, to learn more about this opportunity and spread the word. 
  • Check out 2024 MacArthur Fellow Alice Wong’s New Year’s Guardian interview
  • Beginning with the Summer 2025 issue, we will be sharing a map that indicates from whence our many contributors have hailed–from Wordgathering‘s inception in 2007 to the present. Thanks to amazing Rachael Zubal-Ruggieri for leading this beautiful effort to underscore Wordgathering‘s ongoing global reach and aspirations.
  • We want to emphasize the wide variety and many examples of art and music that appear in this issue. We have received an increasing number of multimedia submissions and hope that you will join us in celebrating the plethora of Disability arts and culture on this planet.
  • Wordgathering has joined BlueSky. Follow us!

Love, care, and solidarity from snowy upstate New York.

—Diane R. Wiener, Editor-in-Chief

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.