This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a Disability Pride Month poetry showcase at Alienated Majesty Books. It was a small gathering, but a beautiful opportunity to hear the stories and words of those in the disability community in Austin, TX. I wanted to share here about the groups that organized it and the resources that were given.
First a word about the venue – Alienated Majesty Books. It is an absolutely darling bookstore and community space off Rio Grande and 29th in Austin. They specialize in a curated collection of small presses, poetry, comics, and translated work and in 2024 were named a critics pick for Best Obscure Literature Collection by the Austin Chronicle. Their name comes from the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote – “In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts: they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty,” which I think is a brilliant name for a bookstore that offers weird and unique selections that challenge conventional thought. 
As to its accessibility – there is a parking lot with a handful of accessible parking spots. The ramp up to their sidewalk is at the far side of the strip of stores and the front door is a manual door that opens outward. For this event, a number of the shelves were rolled to one side to make room for seating. I was able to navigate into the store with my rollator and sit comfortably in the back row of seats that had spaces allocated for mobility device users. It was difficult to browse around the store given the shifted bookshelves and crowd of people that included a fair number of wheelchair users, but I did pick up a book on disability and empire from their Disability Pride Month display by the front door that I am excited to read. Until I heard about this event, I had not known about this bookstore and so am delighted to have stumbled upon it.
The MC for the event was Sueitko Zamorano-Chavez who self-describes as an Indigi-Latine, Two-spirit, Queer, 2 time cancer surviving, chronically ill, neurodivergent multidisciplinary storyteller, event producer, host, and healer dedicated to highlighting experiences of the QTBIPOC community. They brought an energy of passion and deep empathy to the event. And while I should expect this at a disability oriented event, it was still refreshing to see how accommodating the leaders were to the needs of the various guests and readers. Accessibility looks different for everyone and something as basic as microphone set-up has to change from person to person and Sueitko managed that smoothly.
The event was put on as a combined effort of a few different groups. Coalition of Texans with Disabilities is an Austin-based advocacy organization working to ensure that persons with disabilities may work, live, learn, play and participate fully in the community of their choice. Art Spark Texas is a group that challenges perceptions of how people contribute by creating an arts-inspired, inclusive community of individuals with and without disabilities. Thunder & Lightning Poetry Collective is a collective for disabled BIPOC & queer poets, working to foster creative, accessible community spaces that celebrate creativity within the chronically-ill, neurodivergent and disabled community. These are fantastic resources in the Austin area that I hope to plug into more in the future. I also found out about the Disability Dialogues Book Club that is held at the Austin Public Library Yarborough Branch.
Resources and community are often lacking for those with disabilities. We often are isolated because of mobility issues or neurodivergence issues. Safe spaces like these that encourage us to use our voice and gather together are a blessing. I’m grateful to be able to start plugging into these communities.
