It’s been a long time! I know, I know. I’m not sure if this is the case with you, but it seems like the last few years have been a little hectic? A little, I don’t know, overwhelming? A little, how shall we say…ridiculously paradigm shifting on a near-hourly basis in ways that may change the trajectory of our entire futures?

Okay, the last few years have been such rich text that it’s going to be soul-searching decades really before any of us can unravel it all-but here’s a small moment in the midst I’d like to share.

I had a piece of flash non-fiction published this last April in The Fourth River, the literary magazine for Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This special print edition is called Disability: Visible and Invisible, an anthology curated by a disabled editor in a magazine that focuses intimately on the role of place on our lives. My piece “Petechiae” describes rediscovering my body as it moved from invisible to visible disability in the wilderness of Alaska.

On April 8th of this year, I had two events to plan into my day-watching the eclipse and attending a launch party! From top to bottom it was really beautiful to be a part of this magazine and (virtually) meet other authors. Reading our work and recognizing our experiences in each others’ pieces fed my soul, and reinforced how beautiful collaborating with and celebrating the disability literary community has been for me. Thank you to The Fourth River for creating this space. (Incidentally, my family spent a day and a night in Pittsburgh this summer on a road trip-and coincidentally stayed in a hotel practically on Chatham’s campus. It was a strange lovely little moment of stars aligning)

The print edition can be purchased through The Fourth River’s website here https://4thriver.submittable.com/submit and is a phenomenal collection of disability writing (and includes an Ode to Lara Croft that was amazing to hear read!).

Love you all, thank you for any and all support you’ve given me over the years,

Kristin