On August 15, The New York Times published new work by ten disabled poets in its Opinion section. Curated and introduced by poet Jennifer Bartlett, “Poetry Is a Way of Being in the World That Wasn’t Made for Us,” is “a sort of digital chapbook or zine,” as Bartlett puts it, that represents “a start and will hopefully open the door to a better understanding of the significant role people with disabilities play in the literary and visual arts in this country.”

Included in the feature are poems by Jennifer Bartlett, AWP’s Director of Development Sheila Black, Allison Hedge Coke, Kenny Fries, torrin a. greathouse, Camisha L. Jones, Lateef McLeod, Daniel Simpson, Ellen McGrath Smith, and Kathi Wolfe, as well as illustrations contributed by LAND Studio and Gallery in Brooklyn, New York, a program that supports the artistic talents of people with developmental disabilities.

“In my view,” Bartlett writes in her introduction, “poetry is the most organic art form; it does not require money or physical labor. A poem doesn’t need to follow any particular grammar rules; it is the record of one’s own experience of the singular mind and/or body, a singular voice. For many of us, it is also a way of ‘being in the world,’ a world that in many ways was not made for us and actively resists our participation. Through poetry, we are able to remake and reinvent that world.”

“Poetry Is a Way of Being in the World That Wasn’t Made for Us” is the latest in The New York Times’ special Opinion series that includes essays, art, and opinion exploring the lives of those who are living with disabilities.

Photo of Jennifer Bartlett by Samuel Ace