The Deaf Way II Anthology: A Literary Collection by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Writers

209 Pages·2002·0.86 MB·English

by  Tonya M. Stremlau


The Deaf Way II Anthology
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The Deaf Way II Anthology
 A Literary Collection by Deaf and
Hard of Hearing Writers
Tonya M. Stremlau, Editor
Gallaudet University Press Washington, D.C.
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Gallaudet University Press
Washington, DC 20002
http://gupress.gallaudet.edu
© 2002 by Gallaudet University.
All rights reserved. Published 2002
Printed in the United States of America
The Deaf Way II Anthology was created as part of the Deaf Way II International Conference and Arts
Festival hosted by Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., in July 2002.
This book is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Coordination of Deaf Way II Cultural Arts Programs provided by Quest:arts for everyone.
“The Hands of My Father” by Christopher Heuer was previously published in Kaleidoscope:
Exploring the Experience of Disability through Literature and the Fine Arts, 44 (winter/spring 2002): 61.
Kaleidoscope Press, 701 Main St., Akron, Ohio 44311-1019.
“How to Become a Backstabber” and “Depths of the River” by Raymond Luczak © 2001 by
Raymond Luczak.
“Every Man Must Fall” by Willy Conley © 2000 by Willy Conley.
Cover and interior design by Dennis Anderson
Front cover illustration: Spring Root by Iris Aranda; oil on canvas
Back cover photograph: After the Rain by Rita Straubhaar
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The deaf way II anthology : a literary collection by deaf and hard of hearing writers / Tonya M.
Stremlau, editor.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-56368-127-7
1. Deaf, Writings of the, American. 2. Hearing impaired, Writings of the, American. 3. Hear-
ing impaired—Literary collections. 4. Deaf—Literary collections. 5. American literature—20th
century. I. Title: Deaf way 2 anthology. II. Title: Deaf way two anthology. III. Stremlau,
Tonya M.
PS508.D43 D43 2002
810.8'9208162—dc21
2002023502
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Stan-
dard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
v
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Contents
Introduction ix
Curtis Robbins
No Rhythm, They Say 4
Empty Ears 5
Solo Dining While Growing Up 6
Learning Up Front 7
About the Tale of an Old Bay Fisherman 9
Hand Tied 10
Melissa Whalen
The Noisy House 12
Christopher Jon Heuer
The Hands of My Father 30
Bone Bird 32
Diving Bell 33
Holiday 34
Corresponding Oval 36
Listening for the Same Thing 38
Carmen Cristiu
Leaves on the Water 59
Is It a Sin? 60
My Mother 61
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Gaynor Young
My Plunge to Fame 63
John Lee Clark
Q 70
Exuberance 72
Carl Wayne Denney
Borrowed Time 74
Sibylle Gurtner May
“if I could wish to hear well” 87
Sotonwa Opeoluwa
The Victim of the Silent Void 90
Douglas Bullard
Yet: Jack Can Hear! 122
Pamela Wright-Meinhardt
When They Tell Me . . . 131
Silent Howl 133
A Letter to C. F. 139
Kristi Merriweather
Be Tellin’ Me 143
Remember 145
It Was His Movin’ Hands 147
vi vii
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Raymond Luczak
How to Become a Backstabber 149
Depths of the River 158
Justine Vogenthaler
Between Two Worlds 165
Cicadas Roar 167
2 Triple Ought 168
Willy Conley
Every Man Must Fall 171
Salt in the Basement 184
The Cycle of the X-Ray Technician 187
The Perfect Woman 188
Tonya Marie Stremlau
A Nice Romantic Dinner 190
vi vii
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ix
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Introduction
JOHN KITTO, who was deafened by a fall at the age of twelve, wrote
in his 1848 autobiography, The Lost Senses, that “the nature of my
affliction [deafness] unfitted me for any other sphere of useful-
ness than that of literature” (218).1 Kitto explains that he made
the decision to write because it was something he could do alone,
without having to communicate in the frustrating world of hear-
ing people. However, he points out that deaf writers have special
difficulties because the profession “involves, or should involve,
intimacy with men of similar pursuits” (219). Kitto had no fellow
deaf writers with whom to form a community of peers. He had
hearing literary friends but, not surprisingly, found communica-
tion with them limited and difficult.
It is easier today for a deaf writer to find peers; many more people
are writing than are included in this anthology. The writers repre-
sented here submitted their work for the cultural arts festival of
Deaf Way II in July 2002. This international festival, hosted by Gal-
laudet University in Washington, D.C., provided a rare opportunity
for deaf writers to discuss their art. It might seem unsurprising to
include literary arts in a cultural festival, but, in the deaf world, the
visual arts—including signed language performances—are central to
cultural identity whereas the written ones are not.
“Deaf writer” still seems something of an oddity in the deaf
community. Writing, after all, is produced in the language of
schools of the oppressive hearing culture. Deaf people, not being
able to hear, do not acquire language through listening. The only
real way for deaf people to acquire and build on the language
knowledge necessary for reading and writing is through the
1. John Kitto, “The Lost Senses,” in Angels and Outcasts: An Anthology of Deaf Char-
acters in Literature, 3d ed., ed. Trent Batson and Eugene Bergman (Washington, D.C.:
Gallaudet University Press, 1985), 209–60.
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