Wordgathering

A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature

Volume 8     Issue 1     March 2014

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Fiction and Essays in This Issue

Three short stories make their debut in this issue of Wordgathering. Alyssa Frierson gives us a portrait of a young woman, who has recently lost her vision and is trying to adjust in her new surroundings as a learner at a school blind students. Veteran writer Raymond Luczak's story portrays the relationship between a Deaf boy and his dog. Claire Forrest's inventive tale uses an accidental text message as the impetus for the development of parallel stories between a reporter who uses a wheelchair and a young college woman's first experience with love. Part two of Forrest's story will appear in the June issue.

• Claire Forrest, "The Business of Being in Love"
• Alyssa Frierson, "Playing in the Dark"
• Raymond Luczak, "Scentless"

From the raw emotion of Stephanie Leonard's account of life in residential facility for troubled teenagers to Anna Barry's artful visual use of parallel texts to evoke what it was like growing up in the shadows of the Pittsburgh steel mills, this issue of Wordgathering offers a variety of essays. Included in this group are Michael Uniacke's humorous spoof on attempts to use Australian Sign language, Curtis Robbin's attempt to ferret out clues Australian writer Henry Lawson views on deafness and disability in his poems, Stephen Kuusisto's playful musings on his guide dog's sense of smell, and Tasha Chemel's lyric meditation on art, heritage and disability. Added to these individual essays, the Wordgathering editors have made some recommendations about six blogs that readers interested in literature and disability may want to follow, including a brief sample of each.

• Anna Barry, "Our Explosions and Hallucinations"
• Tasha Chemel, "Fingerpainting with Grief"
• Stephen Kuusisto, "Ode to a Dog's Nose"
• Stephanie Leonard, "…when not one star gave a sputter"*
• Curtis Robbins, "Percepts of Deafness in Henry Lawson's Poems"
• Michael Uniacke, "Old MacDonald Had a Laugh"
• Wordgathering Editors, "Disability Literature Blogs: An Update"

Two of the essays in the current issue were pieces that originally appeared in blogs recommented in the editor's blog update. Wordgathering welcomes recommendations for other quality blogs on disability literature and related issues. Suggestions can be sent to comments@wordgathering.com.

*Special thanks to Sean Mahoney for his editorial assistance.

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