2006 - Vol. 3, Issue 1

Last month Kari Pope (Canoga Park, California) wrote about Erin Lewy (Boston, Massachusetts). This month the tables are turned as Erin writes about her fellow Breath & Shadow editor, Kari, and the many arts and disability–related pursuits Kari follows.

Talking to Kari Pope, prose editor of Breath & Shadow, is like coming home to a best friend. She is bubbly, energetic, enthusiastic, and deeply concerned with the well–being of people around her. She demonstrates this with every word she chooses and every project on which she spends her time.

When not editing for us, Kari puts her full energy behind the work she does at the National Arts and Disability Center (NADC) at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Kari works with disabled artists from around the country, from hobbyists to professionals looking to expand their exposure. Kari heads an executive committee for the NADC's Arts and Disability Network, which oversees several growing chapters across California and the United States. Recently, Kari traveled to San Francisco to attend a critical planning meeting. In addition to connecting her clients with the resources they need, she continually advocates for the artists who contact her.

The highly challenging work which Kari is doing full time in Los Angeles comes with its own problems. Working so often in the role of a technical assistant for other artists, helping them to allow their careers to flourish, Kari notes, "I went through this whole period where my identity was sort of subsumed by the Arts and Disability Network, [including] my life as an artist." It is difficult to imagine this outspoken, strong disabled woman facing this problem, especially because she has connections in so many areas of the arts. She has been a self–identified writer since her teen years, but has also performed as a musician and dancer.

The discovery of Breath & Shadow was invaluable to Kari. Of working on the staff she says, "I'm so grateful because it's the best thing that's happened to me in my writing life." She no longer needs to worry that she's selling her artistic talents short. "[Being] involved in Breath & Shadow  .  .  .  I'm writing or doing something writing–related consistently, so I'm not so worried about making the time to do it, because it's just there; it's part of my life."

It is a joy to work with Kari Pope. This weekend as we discussed our mutual love of Ireland, she told me of a proverb she had learned on her last trip there: "They say in Ireland there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet." It is obvious to me that Kari lives by these words. She is always ready to make a friend — and we at Breath & Shadow happily count her as one of ours.