Thread by @Inadarkwood

As many of you will know, I have a database of disabled poets. The most troubling gap is disabled poets writing for children. Frustratingly, a number of top-notch librarians haven't been able to find anything either. I feel like those poets are out there, right under my nose.

Some children's laureates, advocates and anthologists who will know more than me: @malorieblackman, @PieCorbett, @paulcooksonpoet, @chrisriddell50, @peaplanter, @PoetryZone — do y'all know any disabled poets writing for children? I'm absolutely desperate to find some.

What does it mean, to not be able to find a bulk of disabled children's poets? Well, it means that the mystery and confusion of writing is intensified. Because I haven't seen it done before, I haven't a clue whether the children's poems I'm writing now are worth doing.

Should the poems be less blunt? Is the treatment of disability too literal? Should the poems have more rhymes, or less? How would a disabled child react to this poem, that's written with them in mind? I don't have the slightest idea, and I'm just writing into a fog.

I'm very much someone who needs examples of what's gone before in order to move forward. Not having something to emulate and strive towards (or push against) for writing disabled children's poems is...strange, and frustrating.

Also, I'm aware that if it's this confusing and infuriating to simply look for and try to write disabled children's poems, how confusing and infuriating is it for disabled kids to not see themselves and their complex lives in poems written for them?

Thank you everyone who is giving this thread a boost. Let's find some disabled children's poets! 🤓💪

.@MichaelRosenYes do you know any resources that might be useful in the search for disabled children's poets, or people who might be good to ask? So far I only have a handful of names. There must be more out there!

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied and retweeted to this thread today. I'm looking for disabled poets writing for children. They can be from anywhere, writing for any young age group, in any language. Let's find some poets!

Why am I so desperate to find disabled children's poets? Well, if I was in a classroom and a teen or adult asked me for poems that reflected their experience, I could comfortably rattle off some books. But if a child asked me, I wouldn't know where to begin, and that's not right.

Many adult poems work for children. But it's a different experience when work is written for you, explicitly with you in mind. Do disabled kids see their complex lives reflected in children's poetry?

Of course, the poems don't have to be about disability. Like any literature, disability lit is about everything and anything