This summer marked the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a turning point in the history of disability rights. During her years of writing, art, design, and research, Sara Hendren (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '18) has found the field of disability studies a rich and deep world to explore. "And in the course of all of those years of both writing … [Read more...]
Simone John: Poetic Inheritance
Even before the pandemic, Simone John's (Poetry Fellow '20) creative practice was headed in a direction that would serve her well during months of isolation and uncertainty. Since the 2016 election, she had been considering how her ancestors navigated times of turmoil. "Understanding that this is not the first crisis my community has had. And that we survived, because I'm … [Read more...]
GennaRose Nethercott: Beasts and Boxes
GennaRose Nethercott (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '18) knew she had to pursue writing as a career when, during college, taking breaks from writing caused her "bouts of ennui." "I thought, if this is how it's going to be, then I've got to go all in. I'm going to do this for real." Since then, she's written everything from stories to poems to song lyrics to … [Read more...]
Shilpi Suneja: Writing a Silent History
Shilpi Suneja's (Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Fellow '18) novel-in-progress A House of Caravans remembers a history that's often been silent. The story is inspired by Suneja's grandfather's experience during The Partition of India in 1947, when the British Indian Empire was divided into India and Pakistan. Suneja says the disruption it caused still shapes the sociocultural … [Read more...]
Alexis Ivy: What Counts
Alexis Ivy (Poetry Fellow '18) can't get away from poetry. It informs her work in social justice, working with homeless populations. Even when she writes in different literary forms, the focus and specificity of poetry carries over. In this audio clip, Ivy reads her poem Taking the Homeless Census. She also discusses the poem's origin as well as the way creativity, social … [Read more...]