Jan. 1, 2023
Catherine Young: If I Can’t Get in the Door How Can I Join the Party — Socioeconomic Barriers and Crip poets
Katherine Young
My application for poet laureate was almost ready.
I had my poetry samples, my two-page CV (which could barely fit my writing accomplishments and left out my earlier careers before permanent disability and my disappearance from the working world). I was now ready to complete my cover letter for this position that had never been held by disabled person.
Nov. 5, 2022
What Cultural Allyship Means: On the Origins of the Exhibit “Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer”
Kenny Fries
Photo credit: Michael R. Dekker.
Adapted by Kenny Fries from the exhibit opening night speech by curators Kenny Fries and Birgit Bosold
I would like to share with you the genesis of "Queering the Crip, Cripping the Queer,” the first international exhibit on queer/disability history, activism, and culture, which I’ve curated with Birgit Bosold and Kate Brehme at the Schwules Museum Berlin. The exhibit opened on September 1, 2022, and will run until January 30, 2023.
March 19, 2021
Karl Knights: Inaccessibility is the Language All Disabled Poets Know
Karl Knights
Tonight, I was supposed to be reading at a Queer reading series. I was excited by the possibilities of the space, and excited to read disabled poems in a queer context. In the lead-up to the reading, I asked the organiser whether there was any plans to caption the event. ‘How should I know?’ came the reply. I was told in no uncertain terms that all the poets reading had steadfastly refused to provide access. Apparently, the readers ‘didn’t feel’ like being accessible.