John Lee Clark

How to Communicate is a poetry and prose collection by DeafBlind poet John Lee Clark. Clark writes with forms inspired by the Braille slate, prose, incisive erasures, and translations from both American Sign Language and Protactile, a language built on touch.

I’m relatively fluent in American Sign Language, and have worked with those who are legally blind or have low vision while working in the library, but I haven’t worked with anyone who was both. I really enjoyed this book and seeing the point of view of someone who is DeafBlind.

John Lee Clark changes the way we approach, feel, and talk about things we probably would have never thought twice about before.

One of my favorite poems that really made me sit and think was titled On My Return from a Business Trip. It displayed the many interactions the author has had while at the airport - how helpful people wanted to be, but how they were actually more of the opposite.

I enjoyed the section broken up throughout the volume that showed the many different types of poetry and prose Clark has written. I enjoyed some more than others, but I still walked away with something from each one.

*Thank you W.W. Norton Company and Edelweiss+ for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review… (mais)