Our Mission

The Machine, is a literary magazine founded by a disabled creative, for disabled creatives. The Machine seeks to highlight disabled creatives by providing a disability-exclusive space for publication.  This is our space to unapologetically be. To exist without fear of taking up too much space. Our space to experiment, dismantle, piece together and break down limitations ascribed by a machine that has been dictating our existence for far too long. This is a space to subvert the public assumptions of disability that have been pushed by able-bodied people for years who claim they understand us; a space that will allow disabled people to stop existing as cogs satisfying the able-bodied machine. In order to create an equitable space that can subvert these expectations to the best of its ability, The Machine, in no way, will foster competition between creatives with visible and invisible disabilities. There is diversity in experiencing disability, and The Machine will thrive because of these diverse experiences. Given our diverse experiences, this is a space where people with disabilities can express themselves however they choose, and though it most certainly can, creative work does not need to focus on disability. 

The staff at The Machine, is deeply committed to recognizing the impact of intersectionality on individual relationships with disability, given that it most certainly has impacted our own lived experiences. Our founder is a transmasculine, bisexual person and that certainly has informed a number of experiences he has had. By not acknowledging the fact that the possession of certain identities complicates the relationship between the individual and their disability, societal machines will still be upheld and our goals will be obscured by ignorance. At The Machine, we especially want to provide spaces for disabled writers who are marginalized in multiple ways, and will not entertain any work that further serves as marginalization. 

The Machine is very much built on the past and the present, and strives to build off of the amazing voices that have left an unmistakable imprint on the disabled community. The Machine exists because of the disability rights movement and the power that it has instilled in our staff. This magazine is dedicated to the memory of Judith Heumann. May The Machine accomplish even fractions of what you have. 

Thank you for joining us on our journey! I look forward to reading your work. 

Ryland McGinniss, founder and Editor in Chief of The Machine (he/him)