Reading from Anthology Fragile Constructions: from the Utah Independent Living Center Salt Lake Public Library Main Branch 210 East 400 South Salt Lake City UT 84111 Wednesday March 16th 7:00—9:00 P.M. City Art will host readers from the Utah Independent Living Center for a celebration of their Anthology Fragile Constructions on March 16th at 7:00 P.M. at the Salt Lake City Public Library Main Branch. This is the fourth anthology of work to come from members of a writing workshop at the Utah Independent Living Center in Salt Lake City . The workshop, open to anyone with disabilities, began in June, 2001, under the sponsorship of Art Access/VSA Arts of Utah, and was originally to continue for six weeks. The workshop was such a positive experience for both the participants and myself as teacher, that we have continued to meet weekly until the present. This anthology is a sampler of work by participants, not a comprehensive collection. The writers in this anthology have very different backgrounds. Their education ranges from high school drop out to masters degree in business. Some have disabilities that prevent them from being able to write down the works themselves—they have to dictate it and have someone else write it down. A couple can’t see the work on the page after it is written down; they need to have someone read it back to them in order to revise. Their disabilities stem from a diversity of causes including being hit by a drunk driver, gunshot wounds, brain injuries, multiple sclerosis, spinal bifida, paralysis, cerebral palsy, autism, diabetes, and long-term memory loss. FRAGILE CONSTRUCTIONS an anthology of poetry by: Maureen Assuras Venna Behn Lori Brock Jon Castro Susan Chapman Shauna Clausen Joe Conant Sandi Craven Paul Edmonds Katie Felgar Richard Goodner Charlotte Handricks Suzanna Helvy Corwin Housley Tom Hurst Jodie Larsen Augie Montoya Rivka Newman Rebecca Peterson La Rae Piercy Mark Santini Heather Vance Spencer Wright Orla Zabriskie in memoriam: JODIE LARSEN SANDI CRAVEN SHAUNA BLASINGAME DIANNE CHATELAIN ALICE HALL WILLIE NEWBROUGH HOWARD ERICSON STORIES OF SOME OF THE READERS FOR THE 16TH SPENCER WRIGHT—He was in a coma for six months, and was never expected to wake up. When he did come to—he had to relearn to speak and walk, but he remembered how to play the saxophone. He started writing because for the first months of his recovery he couldn’t talk fluently enough to communicate his thoughts. ORLA ZABRISKIE: She grew up living in the National Park system with her family. She has cerebral palsy. She received a degree from BYU in Special Education. She rides the public buses in her wheelchair with her oxygen tank attached to the back. SHAUNA CLAUSEN grew up in Maine , and graduated from Waterville High Schoolin 1993. She has diabetes and osteo arthritis, and was in a wheelchair for many years, but through determination and hard work now gets around with only the aid of a walker—which she calls a good friend. She participated in the 2010 Run and Roll, completed 3 rounds of the race with the help of her walker. MARK SANTINI is from Maryland, and has been in Utah for 10 years now. He has Spinal Bifida. He writes “to get my thoughts and feelings out.” TOM HURST: “Even after five years at the University of Utah(where he received a masters degree in business) I enjoy coming to classes at the Independent Living Center .” Tom was diagnosed with MS at 19 after returning from Canada on an LDS mission. The event is free and open to the public. City Art is sponsored by the Utah Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Zoo, Arts, and Parks, X-Mission, and audience donations. The featured reading will be followed by an open reading. Joel Long