The LCP Chapbook Series presents: the way out is the way in: an anthology of disabled poets, edited by Stuart Ian McKay.
Including poems from:
- Sophia N Ashley
- Roxanna Bennett
- Ashley-Elizabeth Best
- Virginia Boudreau
- Anna Cavouras
- Leanne Charette
- Sile Englert
- Victor Enns
- Meharoona Ghani
- Amy LeBlanc
- Valerie Losell
- Katie MacLean
- Margarita Papenbrock
- Kelly S Thompson
- nancy viva davis halifax
And an introduction from editor Stuart Ian McKay.
these poems reveal how we encounter our disability. our disability compels us to confront the strange minutiae of life – those many small tasks that can overwhelm us – and the larger issues: relationships, discrimination, pain, joy, confusion. our disability colours everything. i encountered my own disability while reading through the many submissions. in my need to give each poet justice, i read only a select number at a time. i didn’t want to exhaust myself, make hasty, poor choices out of an anxiety-ridden desire to get it done. too much mental weight makes a poet a dull boy. writing is always slow for me. my learning disability makes it difficult for me to find and express my thoughts and language. my visual disability means i must write by hand on paper. this is not a complaint, it is mere fact, and acknowledging this fact helps me see how we all share one essential trait: perseverance. our ability to persevere, to succeed beyond what other non-disabled persons expect, perhaps even desire to witness, gives us dignity and power, and, most of all a potent joyfulness.
if our disability is anything, it is a fire. we give our fire – our work, our own personal story back out to the world, not hoping for a grand conflagration, but a beacon for an ever-opening world.
let us stay there, writing that world into existence for everyone. let us make a new kind of history there, together. we have a good work to do. come on, let’s go…
Order your copy today!
Stuart Ian McKay is a Calgary poet. His poetry and nonfiction have been published in many Canadian journals and anthologies. His second book of poetry a cognate of prayer is a series of four long poems celebrating the lives of persons with disabilities. even the idea of maya is maya, a poetry chapbook, was published by Frog Hollow Press in 2019 as part of its Dis/Ability Series. Stuart serves on the poetry editorial collective of filling station magazine. He is a full member of the League of Canadian Poets.
The LCP Chapbook Series publishes fresh and exceptional Canadian poetry guided by various themes and forms to increase visibility and recognition for the various identities and intersections that contribute to the vibrant Canadian poetry community.
Collections from the LCP Chapbook Series are produced in a limited run and are lovingly hand-sewn by Nic Brewer.