不良研究所鈥檚 Collins amplifies disabled writers鈥 voices in new anthology
Contact: Emma Hardy
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥Mississippi State faculty member Christie Collins鈥 new co-edited anthology features essays by 17 authors and educators living with disabilities, chronic illnesses and neurodivergence, helping address a longstanding gap in creative writing scholarship.
Collins, an English department lecturer, and co-editor Saul Lemerond, an assistant professor of English at Hanover College in Indiana, have compiled 鈥淒ivergent Writers: Disability, Illness, Neurodivergence, and Ableism in Creative Writing.鈥 Released this spring by Bloomsbury Publishing, the collection brings together contributors from five countries who share firsthand experiences navigating ableism and bias in the creative writing profession.
鈥淎t the time we started this project, there were no books or academic articles available that discussed these issues in the field of creative writing, despite the reality that one in four writers face some form of disability,鈥 Collins said.
鈥淭he status quo didn鈥檛 offer support or understanding for writers whose minds or bodies require extra time, different approaches to writing and/or special accommodations,鈥 she continued. 鈥淲e aim to show that writers and their writing processes are wonderfully and vibrantly varied.鈥
The anthology is organized into four sections examining the experiences of disabled writers and writer-educators while exploring ways creative writing programs, classrooms and workshops can become more inclusive. Contributors represent a wide range of disabilities and health conditions, including ADHD, autism, blindness, dyslexia, cerebral palsy, bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis.
Through personal essays, research and professional reflections, the collection advocates for greater visibility, representation and support for disabled writers across the literary community.
In the book鈥檚 foreword, Stephanie Vanderslice, a creative writing professor at the University of Central Arkansas, calls the anthology 鈥渁 groundbreaking and necessary work, both capacious and critical.鈥
Anna Leahy, director of the poetry center Tabula Poetica and editor of Tab Journal at Chapman University, writes that 鈥淒ivergent Writers鈥 highlights an essential truth about creative writing: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not all the same as each other,鈥 and 鈥淰ariety and variability is exactly what makes creative writing and the literature we produce exciting, relevant, and worthwhile for humanity.鈥
Collins鈥 work has appeared in Stirring, Phantom Drift, Kenyon Review Online and Poetry South, among other publications. Her poetry collection 鈥淭he Art of Coming Undone鈥 was published in 2023 by Black Springs Group, and her chapbook 鈥淎long the Diminishing Stretch of Memory鈥 was published in 2014 by Dancing Girl Press.
Collins earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Mississippi University for Women, master鈥檚 degree from 不良研究所 and doctorate from Cardiff University in Wales.
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