Feb. 10, 2023
Open Letter to AWP on Decision to Host a “Mask Optional” 2023 Conference & Book Fair
As a literary arts organization dedicated to centering and supporting poets with disabilities, Zoeglossia strongly supports the “Request AWP to Require Masks” Petition (by Alyssa Harad via change.org). The petition garnered 400 word-of-mouth signatures in its first 24 hours, illustrating that public health and safety are priorities for Conference & Bookfair attendees.
As of Dec. 9, 2022, Seattle healthcare officers and leaders are recommending “masking in indoor public spaces and other prevention measures given the high level of respiratory viruses circulating and stress on hospitals”. As conveners of the largest literary arts gathering, AWP’s mask decision will likely influence event policies and operations of regional and local literary arts events throughout 2023.
AWP’s February 9th statement to “strongly recommend” masking is not sufficient to protect conference attendees, particularly our community of disabled, chronically ill, and immunocompromised literary arts professionals. It is also inaccurate to suggest that not masking is in the interest of our community as suggested by the following:
“There are many disabilities and conditions that make wearing a mask for long periods difficult. AWP supports providing everyone the ability to choose what is best for their individual needs while respecting the need for community care.”
On the contrary, opting out of masking has never been an option for many disabled and chronically ill people. Essentially, when we choose to engage in arts and cultural activities such as museums, galleries, poetry readings, and professional conferences, we face the double standard of extending care to the public (i.e., individually masking) while receiving little structural support in return (i.e., universal masking).
Requiring masking at AWP is a meaningful display of solidarity with the disability community.
Throughout Spring 2022, the 25+ independent organizations of the Poetry Coalition developed local programs in 15 cities under the banner: “The future lives in our bodies: Poetry & Disability Justice”. As a member of the Poetry Coalition, Zoeglossia is excited to draw connections between the forthcoming 2023 theme and reaffirm that #DisabilityJustice has always been more than a hashtag. We urge our fellow members of the Poetry Coalition to embody the resilience and resistance of the disabled community that we collectively celebrated last year. Indeed the disabled artists and movement workers of Sins Invalid aptly noted: “Disability justice is a vision and practice of what is yet to be, a map that we create with our ancestors and our great-grandchildren onward.
Requiring masking is consistent with AWP’s commitment to accessibility. A crucial aspect of a Disability-Inclusive Response to COVID is that programs and systems must not violate the rights of disabled people, nor increase their vulnerability. Members of our community have the right to safely engage in the full in-person Conference experience including AWP sessions, Book Fair events, and AWP receptions.
We urge AWP to include perspectives of the disability community and reconsider the masking policies. All attendees deserve to have a conference experience that prioritizes public health, centers community care, and models access and inclusion.
In Solidarity,
The Zoeglossia Community