Wordgathering

A Journal of Disability Poetry

Volume 6     Issue 4     December 2012

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Essays and Interviews in This Issue

The essays and interviews that have become standard features of Wordgathering play an important role in making the journal not just a collected list of poems by writers with disabilities, but a contribution to the development of disability theory. The essays in this issue, each in its own way, add to that body of theory and the growth of the field. Terry Tracy's essay on Robert Pirsig's classic work serves, both as example and model , the critical function of re-investigating traditional texts from a disabilities viewpoint. Michael Northen's essay examines the wellsprings of contemporary short disability fiction. Gallaudet scholar Teresa Blankmeyer Burke takes a look at "hearsplaining," a common phenomena whereby a hearing person tries to interpret a deaf person's world for them. Finally, Claudia Verserby's translations of previously published Wordgathering poems are an effort to extend the work of the journal to an even larger audience.

• Teresa Blankmeyer Burke, "Hearssplaining"
• Michael Northen, "Disability Fiction: A Brief Overview"
• Terry Tracy, "Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: The Unconventional Disability Narrative"
• Claudia Versterby, "Two German Translations"

The two interviews in this issue include three cutting edge poets. The first interview talks with Denise Leto and Amber DiPietra whose emphasis on collaborative work in poetry brought them together to write Waveform. The second is with poet and Omnidawn publisher Rusty Morrison.

• Interview with Amber Di Pietra and Denise Leto
• Interview with Rusty Morrison

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