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John Lee Clark

He // Him // His

Writer

Hopkins, Minnesota

John, a white man with short dark hair, wears a blue t-shirt with a red logo on his chest, which is the written ASL name for Superman. Tactile impressions: Short hair of feline softness, warm and smooth hands, a scent of patchouli.

John Lee Clark is a DeafBlind essayist and poet. Clark is the author of the essay collection Where I Stand, and his essay “Tactile Art” was a finalist for the 2020 National Magazine Award and appeared in The Best American Magazine Writing 2020. His poems recently appeared in American Poetry Review, The Nation, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Poetry Magazine, which awarded him the 2019 Frederick Bock Prize. He has also translated ASL and Protactile poetry, work that Split This Rock recognized by naming him finalist for the 2015 Freedom Plow Award in Poetry and Activism. As a leader in the Protactile movement, centered around a new language emerging in the DeafBlind community, Clark travels extensively teaching, researching, lecturing, and hosting Protactile Slams. He makes his home in Hopkins, Minnesota with the ASL Deaf artist Adrean Clark, their three sons, and a Deaf cat.

Donor -Disability Futures is supported by Ford Foundation and Mellon Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 08.20.2024