Originally posted on Planet of the Blind:
(The photograph above shows poet and nonfiction writer Stephen Kuusisto posing as comedian Marty Feldman. Kuusisto has pulled his sport coat over the top of his head, thereby framing his face as if he’s wearing a dark cowl. His facial expression is that of an enthusiastic duffer or…
My last few days of calm are dwindling: the summer semester begins next Tuesday. I’ve finished my syllabus and course schedule, plugged in all the links and files on Blackboard, and gathered up the necessary textbooks. I’m putting the finishing touches on my Welcome Letter, a document I email to my students a few days … More Access at the Outset
My poem, “Crushed,” is live in the June issue of Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry and Literature. Click here to read it—or listen to me read it for you!
Literary scholars, mark your calendars for SAMLA 88! The South Atlantic Modern Language Association’s annual conference is coming to Jacksonville in November—with the theme of Utopia/Dystopia: Whose Paradise Is It? And guess what? They accepted my workshop proposal! Michele and I will be presenting a fabulous workshop you won’t want to miss! Don’t believe me? … More Appearing at SAMLA 88!
Once upon a time, two teenage lovers shared a famous conversation over a balcony rail. It was a dark Verona night, and their passions were fired by a chance encounter at a happening house party. We know these two as Juliet and Romeo. The house party was at Juliet’s place, and the meeting was unexpected … More Concern By Any Other Name
I’m excited to announce my first publication in The Hopper, an ecologically minded literary magazine from Green Writers Press! Today they published my essay, “Working Resonance: Concerto for Guide Dog, Handler, and World.” Here’s how it begins: “In darkness, the audience rises, applauding the last performance of the evening. Before I can bang my hands … More Essay: “Working Resonance: Concerto for Guide Dog, Handler, and World”
In spring of 2012, I was preparing to graduate with my M.A. in English. I was teaching with a respected professor and touching up my first real CV. Terrified of the great blankness that would follow graduation, I planned to teach, but I had no idea how I would continue to meet intelligent and fascinating … More Why We Still Need Literary Spaces for Disabled Writers
At the beginning of my classes, I ask students to define rhetoric. I teach one of two classes—Rhetoric & Writing and Rhetoric & Narrative. And even students who have taken one of these can’t voice a handy definition for the term in the title of their class. They’re not alone. This is not an exercise … More Exceptional Fallacies
I’m excited to present the work of another author from Mosaics: A Collection of Independent Women (Vol. 2)…Kimberly Fujioka. Kim has been writing since she was a child. She wrote her first novel while she was tossing Hostess Ho-Hos and Ding Dongs off the back of a dump truck at her uncle’s farm. The cows … More Mosaics Poet Profiles: Kimberly Fujioka
Audrey T. Carroll is a Queens, NYC native whose obsessions include kittens, coffee, Supernatural, Buffy, and the Rooster Teeth community. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Fiction International, So to Speak, Feminine Inquiry, the A3 Review, and others. Her poetry collection, Queen of Pentacles, is forthcoming from Choose the Sword Press. She … More Mosaics Poet Profiles: Audrey T. Carroll
Elizabeth S. Wolf lives in MA with her daughter and several pets. By day she works as a Metadata Librarian. Through years of interesting times, her catchphrase was “just another chapter for the book”. Many of Elizabeth’s poems and stories are inspired by events in the news or in her past. She writes because telling stories is … More Mosaics Poet Profiles: Elizabeth S. Wolf
With the launch of Mosaics 2 on May 1, I’m continuing the April frivolity – more poet profiles! But this time, I’ll be sharing the work of my fellow Mosaics authors, from both volumes! The first poet in our series is Carol Cao. Caroline M. Cao, though Florida-born, considers herself a full-Houstonian spiritually. During her … More Mosaics Poet Profiles: Caroline M. Cao
It’s here, it’s here, the release of Mosaics 2: A Collection of Independent Women!!! You can enjoy the book in print or Kindle, and the Kindle price for today is $0.99. All our proceeds go to The Pixel Project, so please consider supporting this anthology – the second installment in the Mosaics series. (Did you … More Launch Day is here!
Rhoda Monihan is an atheist poet and writer and has most of her poems on the PoetrySoup website. They span from being about religion, politics, and technology to being about science, evolution, and WW II. She believes that all people are of equal inherent worth and understands humanism to give the best view of life … More April Poet Profiles: Rhoda Monihan
Travis Lau is a Franklin/Fontaine doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Department of English. His research interests include eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British literature, the history and theory of the novel, the history of medicine, disability studies, body studies, and gender and sexuality studies. His dissertation, tentatively titled “Prophylactic Fictions: Immunity and Biosecurity,” explores the … More April Poet Profiles: Travis Lau
On the Blink 