Able Zine Issue 2 - Get Involved!

Hey Subscribers!

We are really excited to share with you that work for Able Zine Issue 2 is well underway. There are lots of new and interesting projects on the go and we wanted to share with you the ways in which our readers can be involved. 

Below, are links and information to all the different opportunities we currently have for Issue 2. If anything sounds like something you would want to be a part of, please get involved. Who knows, maybe you will find yourself in the next issue. 

We hope you enjoy,

Team Able Zine

Able Zine X The Nightstand Collective

Collaboration with Photographer and Artist Emma Jones

Photo submission call out! Able Zine and The Nightstand Collective.

For Able Zine Issue 2, we are working on a collaboration with photographer and artist Emma Jones @liminalityjones. Emma is the founder of ‘The Nightstand Collective’ a collection of photographs that explore the environment of illness through the lens of the everyday. The collection is built of submissions featuring intimate photographs of the bedside nightstand, each person’s experience and navigation of time and space spent in a body that is disabled. To check out the full archive head to:

https://www.thegeographyofillness.com/the-nightstand-collective

As part of our collaboration, we are reaching out to our followers to see if they would like to participate in this feature by capturing their own nightstands, with the option of also being featured as part of ‘The Nightstand Collective’ online. 

To submit, we are asking that you capture an image of your bedside table/nightstand, as well as other optional environments in the bedroom such as shrines and medication stations that capture your daily care routines. These should be emailed to submit@ablezine.com before the end of December. If you would also like to submit your images to the permanent nightstand collective online project then please also email your images to geographyofillness@gmail.com who will then specify any further criteria. 

Several nightstand images will be featured in the next issue, they can be captured in any format/view but higher resolutions are preferred and may be edited for size consistency. If your image is chosen you will be credited accordingly or can remain anonymous depending on your preference.

Thank you.

Writers Call Out

Work on Able Zine Issue 2 is underway, but we need more writers to submit and take part. 

At Able, it is vital we offer a space and platform for disabled and chronically ill writers to share their work. If you are interested and looking to get involved in either this issue or future issues please send us an intro/CV and link one or two of examples of your writing to claudia@ablezine.com. 

We encourage anyone with a passion or interest in writing to submit and we are able to support and assist anyone who might have specific requirements.

Overall, we'd like to develop our database of writers to include more:

- Black, Asian and Indigenous Writers
- Trans/GNC Writers
- Male Writers
- Writers who are full-time wheelchair users

Specifically for the second issue we are working on a section based around technology and accessibility. For this, we are looking for a disabled writer who feels confident in one or more of the following fields: social media, algorithm bias, augmented/virtual reality, assistive technology, artificial technology and coding. 

Furthermore, as the theme for this issue is 'Environment' we are looking to commission a personal essay or interview relating to the following stigmatised conditions: MCS/Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, EMF Sensitivity, Mold Poisoning, Lyme Disease and/or illness triggered by environmental pollutants and toxicity related to industrialisation, colonisation and globalisation.
 

Introducing 'Ask Autienelle'

Introducing ‘Ask Autienelle’ Able Zine’s new Q&A Column

For Able Zine Issue 2, we are working on a collaboration with autistic advocate and social justice influencer Lauren Melissa, to create a column featuring all of your neurodiversity related questions.

“Lauren Melissa, known across social media as Autienelle, is an autistic advocate and social justice influencer. She seeks to cultivate awareness and acceptance for the actually autistic community through neurodiversity activism. Even more, she actively engages in dialogue across lines of difference, highlighting the inequitable systems that oppress queer and BIPOC communities. Through Instagram, Lauren addresses everyday coping strategies for autistics by answering questions through "Autietips." In this way, she hopes to co-create a society where autistics nurture autistics as we strive against ableism toward a destination of true inclusion.”

As part of our collaboration we are reaching out to our followers to see if they would like to participate in this feature by submitting questions to ‘Ask Autinelle’. We are asking that you send in your questions based around the theme of our second issue - ‘environment’. On this Lauren Melissa says: 

“I love the umbrella theme of "Environment." Environment is essential for autistics, and I have a lot of experience in crafting environments, as that was a huge part of my career as an early childhood art educator before I switched to librarianship. I think answering prompts around environments of home, work, and school would be ideal. As well as a Q&A around the general environment of our localities during the COVID crisis.”

Questions can be sent directly to Lauren either by email - lmtheaspien@gmail.com or via Instagram DM - https://www.instagram.com/autienelle/ We look forward to hearing from you!

Visual and Image Submissions

Although general submissions for Able Zine Issue 2 are closed we are still looking for visual submissions. These could be art, illustration, image, collage or anything else that is visual. If you are interested in submitting imagery please read the submission guidelines below for information on how to submit and best practice for doing so! 

Thank you!

https://www.ablezine.com/submissions