I am so excited to let you all know that I got a second panel into the Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference! It’s a big deal, and an honor. AWP 2018 will only be my second time attending the conference, so I’m thrilled to be back and spreading awareness of disability, writers with disabilities, and my love of poetry with other writers.
Crip Lit: Writing Our Truths will explore crip/disabled literature, and what it means to write your truth. Disabled writers and writers with chronic illness will explore #criplit and how vital it is in a time when the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid/Medicare, and disability rights are threatened. This panel will focus on how disabled writers, who have typically had fewer publishing opportunities than able-bodied writers, are speaking our own truths, writing main characters with disabilities, using forms and hybrid work to accommodate their bodies, and creating literary communities that showcase these voices.
The panel is Thursday, March 8 from 1:30-2:45 p.m. in Room 22 at the Tampa Convention Center. Minadora Macheret will serve as the moderator, and the panelists include: Suzanne Bair, yours truly, Jill Khoury, and Nicole Oquendo.
You can “sign up” to attend on our Facebook event. And learn more about our panel on the AWP 2018 conference schedule.
Moderator:
Minadora Macheret is a poetry editor for Devilfish Review and is starting a PhD in creative writing at the University of North Texas in the fall. Her work focuses on the intersectionality of the body, disability, and multiculturalism.
Panelists:
Suzanne Bair is a disabled multigenre writer, photographer, and community advocate. She is the founder and lead writer of Accessible Family Travel. Her previous work can be seen in Tiny Tim Literary Review, North Sound Life, and North End Metro magazines. She is currently pursuing her MFA at WCSU.
Marlena Chertock has two books of poetry, Crumb-Sized and On That One-Way Trip to Mars. She lives in Washington, DC and serves as the poetry editor of District Lit. Marlena uses her skeletal dysplasia and chronic pain as a bridge to scientific poetry. Find her at marlenachertock.com or @mchertock.
Jill Khoury edits Rogue Agent, a journal of embodied poetry and art, teaches in the Young Writers Institute and Rooster Moans Poetry Cooperative, and has three collections of poetry, Borrowed Bodies, Chance Operations, and Suites for the Modern Dancer.
Nicole Oquendo is a nonbinary writer, artist, editor, educator, and translator specializing in multimodal composition. She is the author of four chapbooks, a hybrid memoir, and a visual poetry collection. She serves the writing community by editing for a small press and literary journal.