2007 Interview with Carol Padden
Channel: RIT Libraries
Date: 2019-11-25

Summarized by Joan Naturale. This video is from the Miriam and Kenny Lerner collection.  Miriam Lerner interviews Carol Padden, a Deaf academic, author, and lecturer. 

Carol Padden talks about a conference where she met Clayton Valli. Ella Mae Lentz had suggested Carol invite Valli, an emerging poet, to do a performance, along with other notables such as Patrick Graybill, Dot Miles, and Ella Mae Lentz. Valli was an unlikely poet as he had no affiliation with the National Theatre of the Deaf and no acting background like the other Deaf poets did. His poetry was beautiful and he applied a linguistic lens in analyzing ASL poetry as he was influenced by Stokoe’s work. 

The Deaf poets’ expressions offer a vision of what will come in the future. While ASL poetry is a political act and has political themes, sometimes ASL poems are created for the joy in experimenting with the language. ASL poetry was always about the body, hands, and Deaf identity. Voiced poetry is read from and paper and the person uses vocal expression divorced from the body. Live poetry is about establishing a connection with the audience at the moment. After watching live poetry performances, new insights are formed about language, political, and identity transitions. 

Today there is more technology such as cochlear implants and genetic testing, and simultaneously more creativity in ASL poetry and sign performances. She wonders whether the two forces will diverge, converge, or come into conflict? 

Carol cherishes the time period of the 1970s – 1980s when the first group of Deaf poets flourished. She sees current beautiful works based on these Deaf poets’ past works. 

Visual description: Carol has chin-length brown hair and is wearing a black shirt over a beige camisole with beige slacks.

For more information, please go to the Deaf Studies Archive finding aid link URL: https://archivesspace.rit.edu/repositories/2/resources/815

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