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Grantee: Kate Lebo

Project Title: "The Loudproof Room"
Year awarded: 2021, Round 1

Local author, Kate Lebo will be writing five chapters of her next book, a collection of essays about listening through hearing loss, The Loudproof Room. SAGA funds will support Kate during her numerous weeks of full-time, devoted writing.

In the past, when Lebo published pieces from this book, she was surprised to learn how her essays were the first time some hard of hearing readers (and relatives of hard of hearing people) had encountered a personal narrative that came so close to their own experience. Although hard of hearing readers exist all over the world, Lebo hopes to especially reach those readers in Spokane and provide a point of connection with them. Lebo will conduct interviews with individuals from the local Deaf and hard of hearing community, incorporate what she learns into the book, and use a reading from the book as a focal point for a forum where hard of hearing people can share their experiences.

At the end of five months of writing, Lebo will host a virtual reading that collaborates with an organization like Eastern Washington Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to showcase the work of Deaf or hard of hearing writers, as well as parts of The Loudproof Room.