By Laura Perna
About Val
Valois J Vera (aka Crip Lyrical) is a Disabled Revolutionary, Poet/Spoken Word Artist and Activist based out of Denton, TX.
While his journalism work can be found in New Mobility Magazine, Latino Rebels, and Rooted in Rights, his poetry has been published by Spoonie Press, Mollyhouse, and the soon-to-be-released anthology American Graveyard: Calls to end Gun Violence, Volume I (Read or Green Books). Their debut collection is “Crip Lyrics: the Unapologetic Poetry of Disability” (POOR Press).
Val serves as host of the virtual poetry showcase, “Thunder and Lightning” and performs a one-poet-show called “CripPoetix!”
Meeting Val
The first time I heard Valois J. Vera’s work was in the fall of 2021. REV UP Texas was holding a virtual program to kick off National Disability Voter Registration Week. In addition to giving timely voter registration information, artists from around the state joined the event to present songs, poems, and stories on the theme of the disability vote.
Everyone loved Val’s poem about deserving to be heard in elections, and I was delighted when he began attending the Lion & Pirate Open Mic, which Art Spark Texas co-hosts each month with the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities (CTD).
It wasn’t long before Val asked CTD and Art Spark Texas if we were interested in supporting the virtual launch of his first poetry collection (of course, we were!). Titled Crip Lyrics: the Unapologetic Poetry of Disability (POOR Press), it is an illustrated collection of liberation verses guided by lived experiences and self-reflection. The launch took place December 3, with more than 50 attendees.
Becoming Crip Lyrical
When Crip Lyrics came out, Val had been involved in disability justice work for much of his professional life, and was just starting out as a publishing poet. The move from writing grants, newsletters, and similar content to poetry “just happened” he says. “Poetry lends itself to movement work.”
As a disabled creator, Val finds that art and education and advocacy are a packaged deal.
“If someone said, would you ever write a poem about a tree? Well, yeah, but knowing me, it’s going to turn into a poem about a tree with a tree house that’s inaccessible! It’s always there. Even love poetry, a sex poem, an intimate poem—when it’s by a disabled poet, it’s an act of resistance.”
He had also noticed that the poetry world, like many other creative spaces, didn’t often consider disabled creators.
“There are so few physically disabled, active, visible poets, that when I show up, it’s always assumed I’ll be the first one in that space. So just being in poetry communities is laying the ground work of making them more accessible.”
When he writes, Val finds inspiration from the world around him: in music lyrics, watching the news, and especially disability justice work. As far as other poets, he gravitates toward those who are also thinking about social justice in their work, like San Francisco poet laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin and Kyle “Guante” Tran Myhre. Gil Scott Heron’s famous poem, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” serves as the inspiration for Val’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Accessible” (listen to Val read it!).
Thunder and Lightning
After a wonderful Crip Lyrics book launch at the end of 2021, Val asked CTD and Art Spark about teaming up again for something else. He had been thinking about an event that specifically highlighted the work of disabled BIPOC and disabled queer poets. He wasn’t sure if there were even enough poets out there to fill a 2-hour program, but we all agreed it was worth finding out.
April of 2022 (National Poetry Month), we held the first Thunder & Lightning: a virtual poetry showcase featuring disabled BIPOC and disabled queer poets. It was incredible. Over a dozen amazing poets signed up to read, and it was clear that there would be more! In fact, we’ve kept it going quarterly ever since. The next showcase, re-branded as Storm the Mic, will be Friday, April 28. View recordings of past showcases on CTD’s YouTube channel.
What’s next?
The Thunder & Lightning showcases launched something even bigger: the Thunder & Lightning Poetry Collective (TLPC), which Val is currently getting off the ground.
“Watching Thunder & Lightning transform into a collective, hearing that people appreciate the space, seeing the work become collaborative, that is so worthwhile. Creating spaces that don’t already exist is hard work. But I want to create those spaces.”
In addition to organizing the virtual Storm the Mic showcases, TLPC will offer workshops to multiply marginalized poets and has an anthology in progress with Thunder & Lightning poet, Maggie Bowyer.
As if TLPC wasn’t keeping Val busy enough, he’s working on a chapbook, also with Maggie Bowyer, due out later this year. Keep up with Val, all of his work, and the Thunder & Lightning Poetry Collective on social media:
- Twitter, Instagram @CripLyrical
- Facebook /CripLyrics
- Linktree https://linktr.ee/ValoisVera
