Wordgathering

A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature
Volume 9     Issue 2     June 2015

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  • Poetry
  • Essays
  • Book Reviews
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  • Interviews
  • Reading Loop
  • The Arts
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Welcome

The June issue of Wordgathering is here. For those of you who live in the Philadelphia area, June is a particularly good month to get out and see what is happening in the disability arts. Laura Cohen and Chris Matthews' DISLABELED Philly film series begins this month as does the production of David Simpson's Crossing the Threshold Into the House of Back by the Amaryllis Theater Company. The film series is the subject of an interview with Laura Cohen in this issue and a discussion Simpson's play gets equal time in the Arts section.

For those of you who cannot witness the above events first hand, Wordgathering offers a balanced menu of poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, book reviews and the arts. Poets John Lee Clark, Kara Dorris, Andy Jackson, Daniel Sluman, and Jessica Goody return with more of the thought provoking work expected of them, while readers will also get a first time look the varied work of some new poets: Paridhi Agarwal, Mitchell Grabois, Annalee Johnson-Kwochka, Krishna Kumar, J. F. Pritchard and Jaclyn Weber.

In addition to the interview with Laura Cohen, our Interview section contains discussions with two other women who are disability activists and poets. Erin Kelly explains her role as the social justice editor of the Good Men Project, while Jill Khoury fills readers in on her new online journal Rogue Agent. Fiction in this issue comes from Kristen Harmon, Raymond Luczak, Kelley A Pasmanick and Linda Fuchs. Emily Michael, Saloua Ben Zahra, Caitlin Hernandez and Mel Finefrock contribute the essays. More about the work of these pieces can be read in the Fiction and Essay indexes. Lizz Schumer hosted this issue's reading loop, featuring excerpts of work from Kenny Fries Banu Kapil and Lisa Lutwyche.

As mentioned above the Arts section gives readers a chance to find out more about the making of David Simpson's play. The section is completed by two other thought-provoking pieces. Alexandra Kadlec explores the performance art of Raphaelle De Groot and Emily Michael looks at the what the concept of a Parachorus means for blind performers.

Six book reviews in diverse genres round out this issue: J. L. Powers (children's literature), Michael Uniacke (autobiography), Ed Krizek (fiction) and Lynn Strongin (poetry), with strong contributions to the field of disability studies coming from Katie Ellis and Patricia Dunn.

Wordgathering continues to maintain a presence on Facebook to provide readers with information about upcoming events such as the DISLABELED Philly Film Festival and Amaryllis Theater Productions as well as new publications by Wordgathering contributors. We invite you to follow us on Twitter at @wordgathering.com.

Wordgathering continues to seek work that develops the field of disability literature. We invite the submission of poetry, short fiction, drama, art and essays that discuss poetry from a disability perspective or that contribute to the theoretical development of the field of disability literature. The journal appreciates hearing from authors whose books are consistant with the mission of Wordgathering and would like them reviewed. We value our readers' opinions and hope you will send your comments, concerns or ideas to us at comments@wordgathering.com.

The Editors

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