The third #CripLit Twitter chat, on disabled writers, diverse literature, and intersectionality, is scheduled for Wednesday, 12 October, 4 pm Pacific/7 pm Eastern. The first one was so fast and furious that for the second I prepared answer tweets ahead of time to give me more time during the actual chat for conversation and hosting. I was damn glad I did: it was even busier than the first time. (If you’re curious you can see a Storify of the first #CripLit chat: Disabled Writers and Disabled Characters, and a Storify of the second #CripLit chat: Ableism in the Publishing Industry, courtesy of the fabulous Alice Wong.) So if I have time I’ll probably do that again in order to focus on interacting with others. If you’re a planner, or get overwhelmed by furiosity, you might want to consider doing the same.

#CripLit Twitter Chat
Disabled Writers, Diverse Literature, and Intersectionality
Guest host: Alaina Leary @alainaskeys
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
4 pm Pacific/ 7 pm Eastern

The Disability Visibility Project is proud to partner with novelist Nicola Griffith in our third #CripLit Twitter chat for disabled writers. Nicola Griffith is the creator of the #CripLit series and the DVP is the co-host/supporting partner. For our third chat, we are both excited to have guest host Alaina Leary, a queer disabled activist and social media team member of We Need Diverse Books™.

All disabled writers are welcome to participate in the chat including reporters, essayists, poets, cartoonists, bloggers, freelancers, unpublished or published. We want to hear from all of you! Check the #CripLit hashtag on Twitter for announcements of future chats that will focus on different genres or topics.

How to Participate
Follow @nicolaz @DisVisibility @alainaskeys on Twitter
Use the hashtag #CripLit when you tweet. If you only want to respond to the questions, check @DisVisibility’s timeline during the chat. The questions will be timed several minutes apart.
Check out this explanation of how to participate in a chat by Ruti Regan: https://storify.com/RutiRegan/examplechat
If you don’t use Twitter and want to follow along in real-time, check out the live-stream: http://twubs.com/CripLit

#CripLit Tweets for 10/12 chat
Welcome to our 3rd #CripLit chat! Created by @nicolaz, this chat will discuss diverse literature, intersectionality & disabled writers.
We’re thrilled to have guest host @alainaskeys of @diversebooks join us in this conversation #CripLit

If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripLit”

Q1 Please introduce yourself, describe your background in writing plus any links about you & your work #CripLit

Q2 As a disabled writer, what does intersectionality mean to you? How does it impact your writing? #CripLit

Q3 Are there times when your identities are erased or devalued by publishers/editors? Why does it happen? How do you respond? #CripLit

Q4 Why is it essential to discuss intersectionality in relation to power & privilege in the publishing industry? #CripLit

Q5 How do your intersectional lived experiences contribute to the creation of diverse stories and characters? #CripLit

Q6  When did you first read a book w/ a character similar to you? How did you feel before and after? #CripLit

Q7 Do you write about all your intersectional identities? Why/why not? #CripLit

Q8 How can we improve disability representation in lit & all forms of diversity as part of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks mvmt? #CripLit

Q9 What are your thoughts on cultural appropriation & creative freedom of writers? #CripLit

Q10 Are disabled writers the ‘best’ ones to tell disabled stories? Do these stories belong primarily to us? #CripLit

This concludes our 3rd #CripLit chat! Please keep the convo going. Thank you very much to our guest host @alainaskeys!

Be sure to tweet co-hosts @nicolaz @DisVisibility questions, comments, and ideas for the next #CripLit chat

Additional Links

Disability Art, Scholarship and Activism
Nicola Griffith (5/18/16)

4 Important Reasons Why Disability Visibility Matters
Alaina Leary, Everyday Feminism (9/27/16)

Why Intersectionality Can’t Wait
Kimberlé Crenshaw, Washington Post (9/24/15)

Perspectives of Authors with Disabilities, Part 1
Lyn Miller-Lachmann, We Need Diverse Books

Perspectives of Authors with Disabilities, Part 2
Lyn Miller-Lachmann, We Need Diverse Books

Looking Back: From Deaf Can’t to Deaf Can
Angela Dahle, We Need Diverse Books (8/31/16)

Disability in Kidlit
http://disabilityinkidlit.com

About

Alaina Leary is a Boston-based editor, social media manager, writer, and intersectional feminist activist. Her work has been published in Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Everyday Feminism, BUST, and The Establishment, among others. She is pursuing an MA in publishing at Emerson College. When she’s not reading, she spends her time at the beach and covering everything in glitter.
Website: http://www.alainaleary.com
Twitter: @alainaskeys
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Alainaskeys/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alainaskeys/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/alainaskeys/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alainaleary/

Nicola Griffith is a British novelist, now dual US/UK citizen. In Yorkshire, England, she earned her beer money teaching women’s self-defence, fronting a band, and arm-wrestling in bars, before discovering writing and moving to the US. She was diagnosed with MS the same month her first novel Ammonite was pubished. Her other novels are Slow River, The Blue Place, Stay, Always and Hild. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in an assortment of academic texts and a variety of journals, including Nature, New Scientist, Los Angeles Review of Books and Out. Among other honours she’s won the Washington State Book Award, the Tiptree, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, the Premio Italia, and six Lambda Literary Awards. She is married to writer Kelley Eskridge and lives in Seattle where she emerges occasionally from work on her seventh novel to drink just the right amount of beer and take enormous delight in everything.
Twitter: @nicolaz
Blog: https://nicolagriffith.com/blog/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nicolagriffith
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/amm0nit3/playlists

Alice Wong is a San Francisco-based disability advocate, freelance journalist, television watcher, cat lover, and coffee drinker. Alice is the Founder and Project Coordinator for the Disability Visibility Project (DVP), a community partnership with StoryCorps and an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability stories and culture. Currently she is a co-partner with Andrew Pulrang and Gregg Beratan for #CripTheVote, a non-partisan online campaign encouraging the political participation of people with disabilities.
Twitter: @SFdirewolf
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/356870067786565/
Website: http://DisabilityVisibilityProject.com