2 poems published in a body image zine
Love Me, Love My Belly zine
I had two poems published recently in Porkbelly Press’ Love Me, Love My Belly zine, issue 7. Porkbelly Press, an indie micro press (celebrating a decade of publishing, congratulations!), publishes the annual body image zine. Their site describes Love Me, Love My Belly as “dedicated to the acceptance of self and imperfection as beauty. It’s about the space between us, our differences, our scars, our wobbly bits, and our power as it relates to the bodies we live in.”
My poems included in the zine are “a diagnosis III” and “a body that aches”. I’ve written a manuscript called a diagnosis, filled with poems that explore and try to describe ptsd, anxiety, and chronic pain. In “a diagnosis III”, I try to visualize pre-ptsd me and post traumatic me as two beings, two specters, both haunting in their own way. “a body that aches” is an ode to the only body I get — one brimming over with numbness, pain, emotion. The theme of self love, of radically loving your body, is one that comes up a lot in my work. Being born with a bone disorder, I have experienced chronic pain, bullying, and feeling different/othered for all of my life. Poetry is catharsis for me, enabling me to better understand my pain and myself, as well as connect with others who experience chronic pain.
I’ve been submitting my a diagnosis manuscript for the past year; fingers crossed it finds its home! Keep an eye out for other poems from the collection.
Read the latest issue of Love Me, Love My Belly. Submit your poetry, creative nonfiction, and art to Porkbelly Press’ future zines and calls for submission.
Open Doors Festival
Video credit: Jessica Wallach
Last month, I participated in the second Open Doors Festival. It’s a festival organized by and for disabled folks. I was honored to read several poems at the festival and thrilled to experience talented disabled artists sharing their art on stage! From Deaf and ASL music videos, to choreography/performance art, to monologues, to a blind pianist, there was every type of art and every type of disabled artist.
The festival is the brainchild of the incredible Suzanne Richard and Jessica Wallach. Richard is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Open Circle Theatre, a professional theater including the work of artists with and without disabilities. Mixing arts with advocacy, Richard has worked on and served in various local, national, and international accessibility and disabilities-related councils and committees. Wallach is a Washington, D.C.-based photographer, educator, and accessibility consultant. She is an artist with a disability, and a disabled artist. With a background in portrait photography, she has recently entered the fine art scene, leveraging her disability as both subject and focus. In her project, The Body is Good, she aims to transform all spaces, particularly healthcare spaces, into affirming environments for all bodies.
Photo descriptions/alt text:
Top left: Rose Dallimore is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator, health equity advocate, and restorative practitioner based in Washington, D.C. She lives with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and several other overlapping chronic health conditions. Rose was a member of the 2020-2021 Emerging Playwrights Roundtable at Arena Stage and has had her plays presented at The Quickening Room in NYC and at Georgetown University.
Top center: Karen Krolak is a free range collaborator who lives with a dynamic disability and an infectious laugh. She’s a midcentury Euro-mutt with an unruly silver mane, a futuristic tripod walker, and an expansive definition of dance. She is the Founder/co-Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse, an award winning nonprofit that connects communities with choreography.
Top right: Emily Kranking is an actress with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (affecting on the right side of her body) and dysarthria (a speech condition). Emily made her feature film debut in “Best Summer Ever”, the first disabled movie musical.
Bottom left: Aarron Loggins is an American deaf performer, activist, and actor. He was Mister Deaf International of 2014.
Bottom right: José André Montaño is a self-taught musician who delights listeners across the Americas. His compositional versatility embraces jazz, rock, blues, Bossa Nova, Latin American folklore, and world music.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
November 2024 | online
National Novel Writing Month (also called NaNoWriMo) is happening all month. NaNoWriMo is an annual creative writing event where people attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript during the month of November.
Remember that this is only one way to engage in creative writing. And it will look different for everyone. Writing doesn’t have to be a contest or forced into one month of the year. In many ways, this can be harmful and ableist (and NaNoWriMo’s recent statement on artificial intelligence [AI] and resulting pushback is a testament to that). I’ve never attempted the contest before, but wanted to share the opportunity with you. I appreciate the camaraderie and community that events like NaNoWriMo can create for writers.
In poetry and peace,
Marlena