26th October 2022 02:45 PM

Patrick Graybill to discuss & perform ASL Poetry

The Department of Linguistics proudly presents Patrick Graybill, Retired Faculty at the RIT National Technical Institute for the Deaf, who will lecture about &  perform ASL Poetry.

 

On Oct. 26 from 2:45-4:00 p.m. in 110 Morrill Hall, Patrick Graybill, known as the “grandfather of ASL Poetry,” will discuss his ASL poems “Defiance,” “Liberation” and “Reflection,” during an ASL Literature class open to the public. 

 

From 6:00-7:30 p.m. he will perform “Leaves of the Deaf Tradition” at 165 McGraw Hall. This performance will include narrations of personal experiences and folklore, some using old and now-forgotten signs, as well as several of his own poems. “All of them are, in a way, autumn leaves falling from a tree known as the Tree of the Deaf Tradition,” says Graybill.

 

Abstract:

 

Who has eighty-three years of being Deaf? 
 

Here I am!

 

My name is Patrick Graybill. In my show, I will share with you what you might not know about the Deaf community in the past. I will narrate two personal stories, two folklore tales, some forgotten signs, some of my own poems based on my experiences, and a children’s story.

 

All of them are, in a way, autumn leaves falling from a tree known as the Tree of the Deaf Tradition.

 

About Patrick Graybill:

 

Patrick Graybill, revered as a grandfather of ASL poetry, was born in Kansas just before World War II began.

 

He is one of seven children; five of them, including him, were born Deaf. He has a hearing sister who is a retired sign language interpreter. In 1958, he graduated from the Kansas School for the Deaf, where an eloquent Deaf storyteller made him think seriously about becoming like her. There, he also saw his older sister in a school production of Tom Sawyer which planted in his head the desire to be an actor. He graduated from Gallaudet College with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1963 and a master’s degree in education in 1964.

 

He took a position as an instructor at Kendall School for the Deaf for three years. He became disillusioned with his first career and decided to study to be a Roman Catholic priest at Catholic University for two years — without interpreting services. It was a struggle that motivated him to accept an invitation to be a member of the newly established National Theatre of the Deaf. There he had a wonderful decade as a professional actor and, for a few years, operated its summer school for aspiring actors.

 

He retired in 2004 having been a performing arts and literature professor for 23 years at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He recently retired as permanent deacon for Emmanuel Church of the Deaf in Rochester, New York, after 32 years. He was conferred the degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorius Causa, from St. Thomas University, Miami Gardens, Florida, in 2005.

 

His avocations are acting, storytelling, creating, translating texts from English into American Sign Language, and creating original poems in ASL.

Location: 110 Morrill Hall