WordgatheringA Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature |
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Essays and Fiction in this IssueFor Wordgathering, developing the field of disability literature means not only the contribution of poetry and other imaginative literature by writer with disability, but literary essays that reflect upon writing and disability. In this issue Nick Pentzell describes his journey as non-speaking man with autism from verbal isolation to pariticpation in the world through writing. Sean Mahoney's creative essay gives his perspective on what it is like for a writer with MS to navigate the medical system. Melissa Nicolas takes on Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago's novel Blindness. The Final essay, Nancy Scott's "Two Lives Converge," is actually a response to last issue's Milton feature asking writers who are blind or have limited vision to react to John Milton's "Sonnet XVI" with its famous line "They also serve who only sit and wait."Scott's essay is especially interesting for its choice of haibun form, demonstrating the potential that disability literature has for incorporating non-western forms into its corpus.
Two other essays that readers may want to check out are in the journal's Art section: Caitlin Hernandez's discussion of how she became one of the few bind writers to compose, act and sing in a musical and Raymond Luczak's critique of the portrayal of the Deaf community in the recent film The Tribe. Fiction in this issue includes the second-half of Greg Gibson's two part story, "Thursday Morning Garden Club," Timothy Allen's tale containing a philosophical puzzle, and a flash fiction piece by Sandy Hill-Olson. Hill's print story is accompanied by an audio version.
A final piece of fiction, "Girls' Story" a section from J. R. McRae's novel of slavery and the underground railroad can be read in Wordgathering's Excerpts section. Return to Top |
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