The Poetics of the Body & Disability

This two-day workshop will use poetry and personal essay as lenses through which to view our conceptions and preconceived notions of the body, and/or disability of the body. What is a body, and how do we define disability? How do we view our bodies, and how may writing help us to come to terms with the discrepancy often felt between our physical and non-physical worlds? Texts we will examine include selected works from the anthology Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability, edited by Jennifer Bartlett; selections from the collection of essays, Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Non-Disabled by Nancy Mairs; selections from the poetry collection Verge by Morgan Lucas Schuldt; selections from Danielle Vogel’s Lit, and the essay “In Bed” by Joan Didion. Students can expect to begin several pieces of prose and/or poetry by the end of the weekend. The goal of this workshop is to inspire new avenues of thought and creativity.

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