Wordgathering

A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature
 

Volume 12     Issue 3     September 2018

Welcome

Each issue of Wordgathering seems to emerge with its own personality and this one contains several works that feature autism. In our Book Reviews section two new books look at the nexus of literary work and autism, Ralph James Savarese's See It Feelingly and Julia Miele Rodas' Autistic Disturbances. Our interview in this issue is with Savarese as he discusses his work in autism and readings with autists that make up the core his book. Eselina Barnett, whose essay on being the mother of a black hip hop artist was featured in the journal's last issue, returns in our Arts section with samples of her son's music.

Poetry in this issue comes largely from the work of poets new to Wordgathering including Robert Beveridge, Alison Gerhard, Tom Huntley, Kenzie McCurdy, Dominek Parisien, Clark A. Pomerleau, Charles Southerland, Nathan Spoon and Roy Wahlberg, with a poem by veteran Raymond Luczak. Of special interest are selections from Liz Whiteacre's Campus Wheelchair Project and poetry from Monica Rentfrow's posthumous collection Rethinking Repair.

Poetry is also heavily featured in our Book Reviews section. It includes new books by Andrea Nicki, Susan Elmslie, sam sax and Diane Wiener, in addition to Jane Joritz-Nakagawa's anthology of migration poems by women. Also featured in the reviews section are Georgina Kleege's More Than Meets the Eye and Dawn Raffel's The Strange Case of Dr. Couney.

This issue of Wordgathering contains an unusually large selection of short fiction. Stories come from Jenny Andersen, Kerry Fenton, Paul Hostovsky, Carol Jeffers, Suzanne Kamata, and Lorna McGinnis. Complementing these, our Excerpts section offers the first chapter of Maya Northen Augelli's mystery novel Work In Progress.

In the Essays section, Des Kenny, John Lee Clark and Sarah Fitzgerald all take a look at the impact of disabled Irish writers. Other essays come from Dorothy Ellen Palmer and Jessica Penner. Included in this section also are poetry translations from Saloua Ali Ben Zahra.

September's Gatherer's Blog, our newest feature, comes from MaryAnn L.Miller, poet, artist and author of Curies for Hysteria, who discusses the influence of poetry and disability in her work as an artist.

Wordgathering's Reading Loop Feature for this issue has been given over by the editors to the announcement of a very important event for disability literature, the Disability Poetics Symposium at the University of Pennsylvania in October, sponsored in collaboration with Zoeglossia in its efforts to underscore the rising importance of disability poetry. We hope you will take a look at this symposium, spread the word, and attend, if possible.

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 disability literature. The journal editors appreciate hearing from authors whose books quaify as disability literature and would like them reviewed. Our guidelines provide further information about the kind of work we seek. We value our readers' opinions and hope you will send your comments, concerns or ideas to us at comments@wordgathering.com. Wordgathering invites readers to follow us Facebook and on Twitter @wordgathering.

The Editors

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