Short Summary
The Deaf Poets Society is a bimonthly, upstart d/Deaf and disabled journal of literature and art. (Click here to see our wildly successful first issue! It's free to read and fully available online.) We came together to right literature and art, which, despite people with disabilities composing about 30% of the population, doesn't yet reflect our wide-ranging diversity. We want to change this and we cannot wait.
The editors here at The Deaf Poets Society are a conglomerate of d/Deaf folks, permanently sick people, and neurodivergent/neuroqueer individuals with intersecting marginalizations. Some of us are parents, others students, some work in publishing or art. Our contributors are diverse as our community; we desire and lift up work from trans and gnc writers and artists, authors of color, women, people over 45, and anyone else who identifies as d/Deaf, disabled, crippled, sick, chronically ill, mad, or neurodivergent. Learn more about the editors at our website's About page, or read the contributors' work.
We're already getting awesome press. During the second week of August, we were featured on PBS and Poetry Foundation, and a couple of months ago, our manifesto ran on Drunken Boat's Medium site! Best of all, we have had 2203 unique readers in the two weeks since we launched!
However, in a world where disabled people make about 37% less on average than able-bodied people, we have an ambitious vision that we're working toward: we'd like to pay the disabled authors and artists who contribute to us. In addition, we would also like to pay our d/Deaf and disabled administrative staff, because making a literary magazine is detailed, time-consuming work.
When you support The Deaf Poets Society, you help us fix the absence of D/deaf and disabled voices in literature and art. Your donation will fund contributors, writing workshops, and advertising.
What We Need & What You Get
Here's a picture of this year's budget, with more information below:
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$3272 for publication expenses
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$937.50 for fundraising over the year (because we want to maintain the momentum generated by this campaign, and also compensate the artists who will be designing your FABULOUS perks and prizes)!
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$1250 for stipends for administrative staff, at $250 a pop times 5 staff members
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$612 so we can have a bank account and pay PayPal fees and any legal fees we incur
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$800 to cover the start-up costs already expended
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$190 because taxes are still a thing for everyone, and
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$400 for 2 workshops to be held over the year with disabled people, hopefully IRL!
For a grand total of $7,461.50 for the year
Our largest expenditure for the year will be publication fees, and rightfully so because we are a lit mag. The largest publication cost is paying contributors. If we don't meet our entire goal, the funds will go towards running our literary magazine and paying our talented contributors.
We have great perks, including art prints, broadsides, and postcards from Anastasia Keck; tarot card readings with Poetry Editor and indigo child Cyree Jarelle Johnson; 10 bucks worth of advice on how to be an awesome ally to people with disabilities in your everyday life; and actual, literal, gnomes.
[Image Description: Two metal rods each have been driven through four differently colored polyfoam gnomes. The rod on the left has been inserted through a white, red, black, and orange gnome (respectively), and the rod on the right has been inserted through a cobalt blue, black, yellow, and dark purple gnome (also respectively).]
The Impact
Are you the parent of an autistic kid? Does your mama use a wheelchair after years of being a walkie? Have you been just been diagnosed with cancer, ALS, or Celiac Disease? Welp, sounds like you need some resources; sounds like you need some disability justice! And that's what The Deaf Poets Society can provide everyone, in a beautiful way. With art and literature, just like you learned about the world the first time.
Let's be honest: The Deaf Poets Society is survival literature. In a world that says disabled people are better off dead, we are the alternative. We are alive and our words and art are a testament to our lives. Disability is one of the minority groups that anyone can be in. Even if you don't need disability justice for your own body today, you may need it tomorrow. It's a great investment in the future and in the world.
Here at The Deaf Poets Society, we take our mission seriously. We strive to make excellent literature and art about experiences that people would rather turn their heads away from. And we've had a great deal of success for a project less than 6 months old. Your contribution will help us to continue our success ethically, by paying contributors and providing educational experiences to disabled writers and artists.
Risks & Challenges
The Deaf Poets Society has all meetings remotely and most of us have never met one another! We are all d/Deaf or disabled, but not all in the same way, which means that organizing together defies standard understandings of collective work. It can also be time-consuming and stressful.
This project has sometimes gone without the start-up money that we need to grow and sustain that growth. But with your help, we can continue the great work. Once this campaign is over, we will apply for grants. This money is seed money until we find and secure more sustainable grant-based funding.
Other Ways You Can Help
Just because you can't donate money doesn't mean you can't help us meet our goal:
- Share this campaign on Facebook and Twitter!
- Don't forget to like our Facebook page and Twitter profile!