“We want to bring poetry, and specifically this community exploring this aspect of their life experience, into the queer clubs where we are so often ignored or excluded”
BY JP SEABRIGHT, IMAGE BY ANNA TOLIPOVA (ANNASTILLS)
Representation is important. In books, as in society. It means being read and heard, our words being shared, published and taken seriously. Representation for a marginalised group within an already marginalised group is even more essential and well overdue. eff-able – the project, the anthology, and the forthcoming mini-tour of the UK This Is Not A Sideshow was born out of this desire for visibility and representation. It was also born out of desire.
eff-able is an Arts Council England funded project run by myself (JP Seabright) and George Violet Parker. Its main outcome is a poetry anthology, published by fourteen poems, celebrating the experiences of sex and erotic embodiment within a queer, disabled, neurodivergent and chronically ill body. The short tour planned to promote the book is in collaboration with local queer disabled performers and groups to deliver poetry-cum-cabaret events in queer and accessible venues. We want to bring poetry, and specifically this community exploring this aspect of their life experience, into the queer clubs where we are so often ignored or excluded.
As self-confessed Poetry Pervs, who’d previously collaborated on a creative project together (last year’s Not Your Orlando) George and I wanted to read more erotic poetry, one that represented our experiences and desires, and those of our queer crip community. Having searched for this anthology and left wanting, we decided we had to make one.
We also know ourselves how difficult it is to engage and be part of the queer or literary scene when it isn’t always possible to leave the house. And how poetry events and workshops suddenly became accessible to us during Covid lockdowns, when non-disabled people needed access and online hosting became commonplace. For the first time, we were “in the room” with other writers. Then, just as dramatically, so many events and opportunities disappeared as the rest of the world went “back to normal”.
Access is sexy. So is activism. The LGBTQIA+ community has long reclaimed the word “queer”, used commonly as a slur up until the 1990s. Similarly, many members of the disabled and chronically ill community have reclaimed the term “crip”, and many with learning impairments or neurodivergence have reclaimed the word “mad”. We want to honour these reclamations and the activist and anti-discrimination objectives of the eff-able project. We have adopted the Social Model of Disability for this language, placing emphasis on Disabled people, as in people who may have a physical or mental impairment of some kind, disabled by an ableist society. Not all our contributors will choose to use these terms, and we’ve allowed everyone to self-define, rather than “check ID” at the entrance. But regardless of how individuals choose to define their gender, sexuality, or (dis)abilities, we are a community that deserves to be heard.
Hence: eff-able. Effable, meaning something that is capable of being uttered or expressed – our collective voices raised loud in anger and joy. And effable as in fuckable.
And we have 39 very effable nuggets in the anthology – sexy poems, poignant poems, political poems; poems full of heartbreak, handjobs, and hotel rooms; respirators, callipers, and incontinence pads; masturbation, orgiastic joy, and a whole lot of kink. We also have a whole range of poetic styles and forms, truly something for everyone, demonstrating what a truly diverse, exciting, and sexy AF community we are.
eff-able is conceived and run by JP Seabright and George Violet Parker and funded by a National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England.
You can find out more about the project here: effable.uk. You can get your copy from fourteen poems: fourteenpoems.com/shop/eff-able-a-spicy-anthology-of-queer-crip-poetry.
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