HELP SPREAD DEAF AWARENESS
85 The time is now for all creatives living with deafness to come forward and share their skills. Accept the challenge and show the world what you’ve got. Today’s readers welcome more variety in books by authors who are deaf. The authors above chose to share their own creations with the world. Let us hope that the next generation of Deaf creatives will do the same in getting their work out there for all to enjoy. Many of us in the Deaf/HOH community are still, at least, satisfied that more Deaf writers are becoming Deaf authors. "It's refreshing to see more and more deaf/hard of hearing authors,” Putz noted. “When I first started writing books back in 2010, it was very difficult to interview hearing people. Today, we have more access options and it's much easier. We still face challenges – for example, getting a last-minute interpreter for a live interview on TV." Mark Drolsbaugh agrees. “Our work is never done,” Drolsbaugh, the author of books such as Deaf Again (Handwave Publications, 2019) and People Suck: A Cheat Code for Introverts (Handwave Publications, 2023) notes that in a perfect world, more and more Deaf writers, artists, and even dancers would bravely enter the public stage and show off their skills. “I have been writing about Deaf issues since 1997, and a generation later, I’m seeing my own Deaf kids and their peers going through the same thing. Accessibility has absolutely improved, but awareness has not. We have to keep advocating and advocating so that more people ‘get it.’ We need more Deaf writers and artists and performers and professionals from all walks of life to keep stepping up and show the world what we’re all about.” Raymond Luczak has been writing poetry for years, and many of his volumes of poetry have received wide acclaim. Some of his poetry books include the titles Chlorophyll (Modern History Press, 2022) and the upcoming collection, Far From Atlantis: Poems (Gallaudet University Press, 2023). Karen Putz is an author who is deaf who has been writing about issues relevant to the deaf community for years. One of her many books includes Unwrapping Your Passion (Morgan James Publishing, 2017). She, too, notes the need to see more Deaf authors writing a larger variety of books. "I would love to see even more deaf/hard of hearing authors in every genre,” she said. Even so, readers would love to see more variety when it comes to authors who are deaf. This need is answered by Deaf authors Raymond Luczak, Karen Putz and Mark Drolsbaugh. Alot of other authors who are deaf and their books may not also receive that same kind of attention, but this is not stopping them for marching on with their words, their work, and their books.
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