Sean Mahoney
LET'S TAKE A TIME OUT HERE:
Looking Back on the Disability Literature Consortium's First Appearance at AWP
Hello we are…
Was this really a first as a disabilities literary event? The idea that a group of likeminded individuals
could come together, in 2016 no less, and remove some of the gauze surrounding both disability literature
and disability studies as a healthy, thriving entity at an event largely celebrating and preaching to the able bodied mass. Yeah well it
did indeed happen. And that existing thirst is only just beginning to be satisfied.
The Association of Writing and Writing Programs (AWP) annual literary event took place in 2016 at the Los
Angeles Convention Center. The Disability Literature Consortium (DLC), which began as a good idea back in
the Spring of 2015, debuted it's physical form on 3.31.16. We really had no idea what to expect, what sort
of reception we would receive. And for me personally the first hour or two were a little anxiety ridden –
like we were the gunk in the well-oiled machine of the event. I felt almost as though we had put ourselves
in the position of 'target' what with the previous summer's controversies involving inclusion and/or exclusion and
the lack of disability-themed panels at the 2016 event.
Nonsense , of course. I mean there was, after all, the Disability Caucus. I missed it sadly but I hear it
was rousing and raucus. And in the end, from what I was told, the Disability Caucus is now and will be going
forward a 'thing' to marvel at. My hope is that the DLC and the newly minted DC will be sharing booth space
in 2017 in
Washington, D.C. Perhaps along with Zoeglossia? A triple feature? Stay tuned…
A Problem of Cash? Perish the thought…
So I heard that AWP was a little strapped, a little cash tight, which was a portion of the excuse offered
on why there existed no Disability Liaison as part of AWP's ever evolving event staff. No disability coordinator.
No disability engineer. No nobody to iron out wrinkles and troubleshoot trouble relative to the disability
community and greater accessibility…it's a long damn walk from parking to registration to actual event
if one is using a rollator.
Strapped? AWP offsite events with DJs and open bars? People talk you know.
Booth Diaspora & Somatic Mechanics
People stopped by our booth – many were friends and allies but just as many others were the curious and the
knowledge seekers. Many knew somebody who was deaf or blind or autitistic, knew somebody who was unbalanced or had
passed or
was just stuck in some undiagnosable hellhole. Many knew somebody who knew somebody that had…such and such. I
found these people fascinating myself because they were finding out firsthand that people with disabilities wrote
stuff and felt things and imagined strange lands full of messed up people and generally had things to say that
was not so different from…you know — their own lives. And many of these people did not make a purchase; they
fingered through spines and lifted and looked and flipped. They took a DLC business card, or several. And then
there were those who paused for a moment in front of the booth and took in the banner,
the majesty and message of the banner, and on some of these people I could see the very idea of a Disability
Literature Consortium implanting itself deep within their virginal brain bellies.
But over and over again we were told what a fantastic idea the DLC was and how necessary it was and will be
going forward. That was really nice to know. And yet there is still a messaging problem: not enough people know.
Not yet. And so dear reader I ask you: what more can we do? You are very much encouraged to join the conversation
at dislitconsortium.wordpress.com.
And this, this is for our friends
In the months prior to AWP many emails were sent, many requests made. The response was beyond gratifying. Lots
of folks wanted to be a part of what the DLC was doing, and will be going forward for the foreseeable future.
I am not going to run through the entirety of the book list here. Most of that information is available in a prior
issue of Wordgathering or over at the DLC Wordpress site. But I can tell you this:
Jill Khoury, Rebecca Chamaa, Eileen Cronin, Sheila Black, Lori Brozek, Jeneva Stone, Jillian Weise, Cali Linfor,
Corrinne Clegg Hales, Karl Sherlock, John Hales, and Jim Ferris all stopped by the booth at one point or another
to investigate what it was that the DLC had going on. Many of those just mentioned had their work on sale at the
booth; many were involved in panels or readings. In fact, many were a part of the DLC's offsite reading at the
Mercado la Paloma in downtown Los Angeles…which was quite an event in itself. The venue was readily accessible
and well attended. Although, to be completely honest here, I could have done more to promote it. I could have made
sure it got mentioned it AWP's promotional event literature and on their website. I will do better for AWP17 –
I promise I will.
The after hours events become rather competitive – everybody wants bodies and quite often draw becomes
a matter of glamour, a buffet of glitz and gifts.
But back to the reading for a moment. I wanted to mention at least one thing about the quality of the readers
and readings. Solid. Solid from beginning to end. And emotional.
And charged. Mike Northen read several poems in tribute to Linda Cronin who had served as one of
Wordgathering's poetry editors and passed suddenly and quite unexpectedly just prior to AWP.
Bipolar Rebecca C. overcame Disorder Rebecca C. and delivered a rousing manifesto.
And I haven't said anything about the tasty food options that were available at the Mercado either.
Alas…
Issues? Naturally…
We did not have a cash box at our booth and not everybody pays with a credit card. So my pockets were
crammed full of bills and coinage. Not necessarily a bad thing unless of course one forgets to clear out one's
pockets at the conclusion of the event and returns the trousers to a hanger in the closet and…simply forgets about
them until sometime in mid-May. Don't get me wrong: all of the money generated from book sales had been deposited
into the DLC bank account either electronically via Square or through account transfers. And all of the authors
who needed to be reimbursed for sales or shipping costs were indeed reimbursed. I just forgot about the cold cash.
And speaking of Square we had a connectivity snafu or two during the first hour or so of the event. But that's all.
And the Square sales reports are amazingly helpful.
Something else we can try to avoid next year would be proximity to restrooms. Our booth was situated toward
the back half of the middle. There were restrooms pretty close by to be sure but the men's room was upstairs. Not
the epitome of 'accessible'. And while there were some concessions nearby the coffee vendors were up toward the
front of the convention hall and shut down just after lunch. Meaning that one had to make one's way over to the
Starbuck's at the Staples Center. Again, not the epitome of 'accessible'. But the most baffling ticket item to me
was that coffee vendors on the inside would be long gone by early afternoon…at a literary event no less. These are
the midnight 'oyle' people.
The plot driven and politicized characters bouncing room to room, reading to reading.
Bring on the Joe…and lots of it.
Transitions
By the way – I hated the transitions from concrete to carpet to tile to carpet and back again. Maybe that's just
me though as it provides just one more thing I need to be cognizant of…stupid gravity and surface frictions.
Thanks Bro
I would be totally remiss if I failed to acknowledge the assistance provided us by one Daniel Mahoney. He was
helpful, accommodating, and riotously funny to boot. But from moving in boxes of books to helping create a navigable
booth space it could not have been done without his help. Truth be told he was the reason I missed Friday's
festivities.
Horse racing. It had been something like 6 years since he and I had had an opportunity to gamble together. And we
kidnapped our mother in the process. Good times for sure. But Mr. Mahoney will not be available to the DLC at AWP17.
No he'll be helming the Bateau Press booth or table…whatever that imprint is.
He was there for the DLC at the end of the offsite reading as people needed taxiing back to hotels or other events.
He was there as we dismantled Jim Ferris' mobility scooter, got it into the trunk of our mother's Toyota Matrix,
cracked wise about being a Poet Laureate in and
around Ohio, got Jim to his hotel, and reassembled the scooter as our final task of the evening.
So thanks OK.
Issues? Just as nature intended
This was just my second AWP event as many of you know. And the issues about inclusion and accessibility
persist…as many of you know…and know all too well. I spoke with somebody from the Latino Caucus who, if
I remember correctly, said he was also part of the LGBT Caucus. There is a Women's Caucus. I have no doubt that there
is a Black Caucus and an Asian Caucus. This level of diversification thrives perhaps, and maybe, because AWP (and the
publishing world in general?) is white, male, and disproportionately able-bodied for that matter.
There are things about the process and the event itself that we will have a better handle on heading into DC next
year. Like how the books themselves are displayed because in all honesty we had a lot of books and not all of the
available titles got 'face time' as it were.
And while I try to keep this a light recapitulation of AWP events the politics of inclusion and accessibility
continue to trickle into the AWP conversation…just like water. Cool, quenching, restorative water.
Say goodbye & c u soon…
And so, in conclusion dear reader, I humbly ask you: what more can we do? It is because of you that we move
forward confidently and in solidarity. You are very much encouraged and even expected to join this conversation
at dislitconsortium.wordpress.com.
Sean J. Mahoney lives with his wife, her parents, two Uglydolls, and three dogs in Santa Ana, California.
He works in geophysics. He believes that punk rock miraculously survives, that Judas was a way better singer than Jesus,
and that diatomaceous earth is a not well known enough gardening marvel. His work has appeared in or is forthcoming from
Breath and Shadow, SharkPack Poetry Review, Wordgathering, Tethered by Letters, Pentimento, Catamaran Literary
Reader, and Open Thought Vortex, among others.
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