S196.
Disabled, Different, Diverse? Writing the Liminal Space Between Identities
Saturday, March 11, 2023
1:45 pm to 3:00 pm
People with minds / bodies differing from the norm describe their experiences / identities differently given cultural paradigms through which they see themselves. People often identify with a mixture of labels / concepts: disabled, diverse, or simply different. Authors whose work concerns visible / hidden disabilities, D/deafness, chronic physical / mental illness, and physical / neurological / linguistic differences explore the creative potential of stories with characters identifying in complex, unique ways.
Participants
Dianne Bilyak is the author of Nothing Special: The Mostly True, Sometimes Funny Tales of Two Sisters. Published by Wesleyan University Press, it was released in 2021. She's a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet, graduate of the Institute of Sacred Music and Art, and a disability rights advocate.
Tamara Sellman (she/her) is a medical professional, healthcare advocate, and author of Intention Tremor: A Hybrid Collection (MoonPath Press, 2021), a medical memoir she wrote after her 2013 multiple sclerosis diagnosis. It chronicles her illness journey through experimental poetry and prose forms.
Leticia Garcia Bradford is a performance poet in the SF Bay Area. Founder of B Street Writers Collective in Hayward, California, and publisher for MoonShine Star Co., her poetry and stories are published in local and national journals. She has a MA in dramatic arts from San Francisco State University.
Leticia Escalera has worked with the Center for Independent Living and served two board terms on a California disability advocacy organization and the Oakland Mayor's Commission on Persons with Disabilities. She’s written a memoir about life with cognitive / neurological disabilities.
Kathleen Marcath, creator of ASL Picture Books, has a love for children and believes every child whether disabled, diverse, or different has a gift to give. ASL broadens and improves the cognitive tapestry of our brains, opening new pathways for the limitless potential sign language has to offer us all.
