Moving Close to the Ground

Combining story and critical thinking, disabled writer and activist Eli Clare explores the joys and tribulations of crawling and scooting in the more-than-human-world. For him moving close to the ground creates both disability access and intimacy with mushrooms, tree roots, and the fine grain of rock outcroppings. Join Eli as he reflects about ableism, the ways in which the non-disabled world privileges walking, the importance of disability community, and deeply loving forests, mountains, and beaches.

The program will be available in person at the Bell Museum and via Zoom. Please indicate the way you will be attending when you register via Eventbrite.

For the in-person program at the Bell Museum, we request that guests wear masks indoors. Doors open at 6 pm and include an opportunity to visit Snow: Tiny Crystals, Global Impact, an interactive exhibition about the nature and wonder of snow and the impact of climate change on our snowy planet. Eli’s talk and the Zoom broadcast will begin at 7 pm, followed by Q&A and book signing.

Eli’s book, Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure, will be available for purchase on-site starting at 6 pm.

ASL and CART will be provided. In order to make this event accessible to everyone, please note any accommodations you need with your Eventbrite registration even if they are already being provided (such as online access, ASL, CART).

Speaker:

White, disabled, and genderqueer, Eli Clare lives near Lake Champlain in occupied Abenaki territory (also known as Vermont) where he writes and proudly claims a penchant for rabble-rousing. He has written two books of essays, the award-winning Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure and Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation, and a collection of poetry, The Marrow's Telling: Words in Motion. He also has been published in dozens of journals and anthologies. Eli works as a traveling poet, storyteller, and social justice educator. Since 2008, he has spoken, read, taught, facilitated, and consulted (both in-person and remotely) at well over a hundred conferences, community events, and colleges across the United States and Canada. He currently serves on the Community Advisory Board for the Disability Project at the Transgender Law Center and is also a Disability Futures Fellow (funded by the Ford Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation). Among other pursuits, he has walked across the United States for peace, coordinated a rape prevention program, and helped organize the first ever Queerness and Disability Conference.

Partner:

This event is hosted in partnership with the Queer and Trans* Ecologies Interdisciplinary Initiative. This initiative spans the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences to explore questions in the fields of queer and trans* ecologies about new embodiments and social relations in the Anthropocene. They are hosting a dynamic, multi-day symposium on the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities campus on March 23-25, 2023.

Host or Publisher Bell Museum