Wordgathering

A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature

Volume 10     Issue 1     March 2016

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Poetry in this Issue

• Michael Amram, Pros and Cons of Publishing
• Tasha Chemel, Planet of the Intermittently Sighted
• David Flynn, The Heart
• Tony Gloeggler, In the Building; Weather
• Kathryn Jacobs, On the Spectrum
• Anne Kaier, Forgiveness
• Karyn Lie-Nielsen, Handbuzz; Hank Williams and My Father
• Travis Laurence Naught, On the Water
• Olfa Drid, Dis-Abled
• Meghan O'Hern, An Open Letter to My Parents
• J. F. Pritchard, Menigitis Hallucination

Each of the poems above is accompanied by an audio recordings are provided for the above poems. Unless otherwise indicated the poems are read by the poems themselves. Others are read by Wordgathering staff readers Melissa Cotter and Sean Mahoney.

In addition to the poems above readers will find more poetry in the Excerpts section of this issue. Brian Teare reads selections from his latest book The Empty Form Goes All the Way to Heaven, and Tendai Mwanaka's anthology of best new African poetry is represented by four writers.

One of the ways that a body of poetry is developed is through reference to other poets, as Archibald MacLeish does directly in the title of his poem "You, Andrew Marvell" or Robert Frost famously does in his reference to Shakespeare in "Out, Out—." Disability poetry is no different. Tasha Chemel's poem "Planet of the Intermittantly Blind" in this issue is her reaction to the work of Stephen Kuusisto, which she references both in her poem's title and by opening her poem with a quote from his work. By doing so, she calls attention to Kuusisto's work and, even though her engagement to his writing is oppositional, sets Kuusisto up as a writer to be noticed. (In the same poem, Chemel also invokes the writing of Eli Claire.) For the next issue of Wordgathering, the editors invite writers to submit poems that in some way engage the work of another poet with a disability. This could simply be a poem about a paritcvular poet, a poem that reacts to a specific poem by a poet, or based upon a line from a poem by another writer with a disability. If the poet and/or poem being refenced are not immediately obvious, submissions should also include that information. Poems should be submitted to submissions@wordgathering.com with the words "Referential Poetry Submission" in the subject line. Previously published poems or multiple poems by the same author can be accepted, but submissions should be made by May 1.

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