Stammering pride in Dysfluent
Conor Foran is editor of Dysfluent, a magazine that reflects his experience of stammering, and broadens that out to become a publication of stammering pride. It’s an interview-based magazine, and Conor uses it to speak with other people who stammer, as well as speech and language therapists, activists, and other people who have something to say about stammering. And it uses a custom typeface with letters that get stretched out, or chopped up and repeated, reflecting the sound of a stammer. All the interviews for the magazine are recorded and then carefully transcribed and typeset to represent that individual’s voice as closely as possible.
As you’ll hear, though, Conor is quick to point out that he could never give a totally accurate account of a conversation in print, and I was really interested to hear him talking about that impossibility, and the value that remains in playing with the reader’s expectations of what ‘normal’ speech should sound like.
He and I both felt that it was important for his stammer to be properly reflected in this discussion, so I haven’t edited out any of the pauses or repetitions or other unintended bits that occurred between us. It’s a really interesting magazine and Conor’s thinking is sensitive and perceptive, so I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation about Dysfluent.
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