Learned so much at the Symposium about barriers to engagement with live literature. Louisa Adjoa Parker talked about barriers to engagement from an intersectional perspective, looking at ethnicity, gender, invisible disabilities, income and place that can contribute to more than one ‘need’ and layers of marginalisation, when aiming for inclusivity. Abi Palmer talked about her exciting creative practice and dealing with challenges as a wheelchair user. Her debut collection is out from Penned in the Margins next year, so look out for that. I talked about d/Deafness from a personal perspective as well as an event organiser and the need to consider how d/Deafness is often invisible. BSL interpreters and captions are options for different access needs, but if you can’t afford that, at least reserve seats at the front of venues for people who are d/Deaf or Hard of Hearing, and get readers and performers to use a mic even if they think their voice ‘carries’. It might not carry far enough! Thanks to University of Southampton and Matt West from ArtfulScribe for organising a brilliant event.
Lisa Kelly 