by Corinne Segal
Deaf Poets Society, a new digital literary magazine, has a message for writers with disabilities: We see you. We want you to be here. And this is your space.
Writer Sarah Katz, the magazine’s founder, grew up in North Potomac, Maryland, and attended a school with a program for students who were deaf or hard of hearing. “I had grown up around other deaf and hard of hearing people and took for granted that I had easy access to other people like me,” she said.
That wasn’t the case at the University of Maryland, College Park, where Katz said she was the “only deaf student I knew.” As a young writer, she began seeking out the disability community and went on to earn an MFA in poetry from American University.
Katz said members of the disability community have struggled to find its place in the literary world, with many writers asking who is afforded space to write in a world that often renders disabled people invisible.
“There’s been a lot of controversy about how people with disabilities are represented in the literary community, and whether publishers are really giving a platform for disabled writers, and also the diversity of disability literature,” she said.
She decided to found an online literature and art magazine, naming it in a nod to the 1989 movie “Dead Poets Society.” Writers and artists with any kind of disability can contribute to the magazine, which will release new issues on a bimonthly basis, Katz said.
When creating the first issue, the editors of the Deaf Poets Society considered how to make the magazine accessible for all people, including people who are deaf, blind or have other disabilities.
Most pieces are presented in both text and audio, and pictures are accompanied by descriptions for people who cannot see the images. The editors are also considering options for online workshops that could allow people to attend from home.
But the magazine is only one step toward expressing the diversity and point of view of the disability community.
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Question
Use the passage below from “Deaf Poets Society” to answer the question.
Which best describes the central idea of this passage?
(1 point)
Responses
Sarah Katz was born deaf and was the only deaf person in her school.
Sarah Katz was born deaf and was the only deaf person in her school.
There are ways to use text and audio to make literature more accessible for people with disabilities.
There are ways to use text and audio to make literature more accessible for people with disabilities.
The literary world is working to have better options for people with disabilities.
The literary world is working to have better options for people with disabilities.
Dead Poets Society was a popular film released in 1989.
Dead Poets Society was a popular film released in 1989.
1 answer
The best response that describes the central idea of the passage is:
The literary world is working to have better options for people with disabilities.
This response captures the overall theme of the article, which discusses the creation of the Deaf Poets Society magazine aimed at providing a platform for writers with disabilities and highlights the efforts to make literature more inclusive and accessible.
