May Tomorrow Be Awake: On Poetry, Autism, and Our Neurodiverse Future – An Educator's Inspiring Approach to Language, Expression, and Human Potential

by Chris Martin

An author and educator’s pioneering approach to helping autistic students find their voices through poetry—a powerful and uplifting story that shows us how to better communicate with people on the spectrum and explores how we use language to express our seemingly limitless interior lives.

Adults often find it difficult to communicate with autistic students and try to “fix” them. But what if we found a way to help these kids use their natural gifts to convey their thoughts and feelings? What if the traditional structure of language prevents them from communicating the full depth of their experiences? What if the most effective and most immediate way for people on the spectrum to express themselves is through verse, which mirrors their sensory-rich experiences and patterned thoughts? May Tomorrow Be Awake explores these questions and opens our eyes to a world of possibility. It is the inspiring story of one educator’s journey to understand and communicate with his students—and the profound lessons he learned. Chris Martin, an award-winning poet and celebrated educator, works with non-verbal children and adults on the spectrum, teaching them to write poetry. The results have been nothing short of staggering for both these students and their teacher. Through his student’s breathtaking poems, Martin discovered what it means to be fully human. Martin introduces the techniques he uses in the classroom and celebrates an inspiring group of young autistic thinkers—Mark, Christophe, Zach, and Wallace—and their electric verse, which is as artistically dazzling as it is stereotype-shattering. In telling each of their stories, Martin illuminates the diverse range of autism and illustrates how each so-called “deficit” can be transformed into an asset when writing poems. Meeting these remarkable students offers new insight into disability advocacy and reaffirms the depth of our shared humanity.  Martin is a teacher and a lifelong learner, May Tomorrow Be Awake is written from a desire to teach and to learn—about the mind, about language, about human potential—and the lessons we have to share with one other. 

Genres: Poetry, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Education, Disability, Audiobook

336 pages, Hardcover

Published August 9, 2022

About the author

Chris Martin is this very moment endeavoring to become himself, a somemany and tilted thinking animal who sways, hags, loves, trees, lights, listens, and arrives. He is a poet who teaches and learns in mutual measure, as the connective hub of Unrestricted Interest/TILT and the curator of Multiverse, a series of neurodivergent writing from Milkweed Editions. His most recent book of poems is Things to Do in Hell (Coffee House, 2020) and his first book of nonfiction is May Tomorrow Be Awake: On Poetry, Autism, and Our Neurodiverse Future (HarperOne, 2022). He lives on the edge of Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis, among the mulberries and burr oaks, with Mary Austin Speaker and their two bewildering creatures.

Reviews

[Angie Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a powerful read. Really thought-provoking insights about neurodiversity, linguistics, and poetry. Amelia Bell's we are other together is one of my favorites from SpellX, and it was wonderful to see it in print here.

[Lizzie S · Rating 2 out of 5]

May Tomorrow Be Awake is a work of nonfiction and an anthology of poetry. Martin is a poet who has worked with young people to create poetry and highlights some of the students and the works they created in this book. I really liked the premise - a discussion of how poetry can be utilized as a manner of expression for neurodivergent folks. My favorite part of this was the poetry, followed by the stories about their authors. Unfortunately, I found Martin's writing overly flowery and complicated and it made it hard for me to enjoy this as much as I think I would have otherwise. It took me 7 months to finish, which I think speaks to how difficult I found it to get through. A disappointing execution of a fabulous premise.

Thanks so much to Chris Martin and HarperOne for this ARC via NetGalley. May Tomorrow Be Awake is available now.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I am / languaging my way the long / poetic feelings packing to- / gether the pace of the world.” Adam Wolfond, nonspeaking poet and artist/autist

“Let it signal nothing’s light, I say for want of light feelings. Is my ear deep or deeper?” Hannah Emerson, autist

If you tailor your lesson plans to an autistic student, you have dramatically expanded the ways those plans can serve neurotypical students as well. The autistic predilections for play, pattern, and sensory awareness are at the core of human experience, though perhaps with different levels of intensity. Every human body learns through its sensory apparatus and can become overwhelmed by certain kinds of unchecked stimuli.

Amazing, powerful, life changing. I read so many books, some are so blah, and then this one comes around and smashes all expectations, all thought, all everything. Critical, must read book. This book was like a book about another beautiful important, hell in heaven type of world that I walk through and hadn’t seen, like a microscope and binoculars were used simultaneously. The imagery and gifts given here are unlike any I have ever read, and I am stunned with gratitude and looking at the world and language in a new way.

In 2010, Kamila and Henry Markram posited the “intense world theory,” which explores the way autistic neurology is characterized by ways of processing the world that are both uniquely dynamic and uniquely complex.12 They posited that autistic minds aren’t underresourced, as was often considered to be the case, but overconnected. They noted that the “fabric” of autistic brain circuitry is much more dense and ornate than in the general population.

It’s impossible to overstate the negative effects that the overpsychologicalization of autism has had on autistic lives. By enacting a Cartesian divorce of the mind from the body, medical scholarship has historically placed autism within the realm of medicalized psychopathology, often stripping autists of their rights and agency. This imbalanced emphasis on the mind also led to a string of Freudian hypotheses for the cause of autism that have been incredibly destructive to both autists and their families.

Certain movements and sounds that seem out of the ordinary to others form the basic engagement between Adam and the world around him. They are a type of echolocation allowing him to orient his body in space, to find his way in and through the world. Many autists have difficulty with proprioception, the ability to locate one’s body within the shifting spaces of the often-overwhelming sensory environment.

Let’s picture a young woman at the mouth of a cave. She perceives the sharp call of a red-tailed hawk. This sensorial conflation might be a natural gateway for metaphorical thought, bringing one sensation—the sharpness of touch—into alignment with another—the sound of the hawk—allowing the young woman to experience both at the same time. This kind of perceptual interweaving is at the heart of metaphor, expressing how something can be both itself (a sound) and something else (a touch). The expression of this doubleness, this deepening into the multiplicity of experience, might well have formed the soil from which poetry sprang.

In an interview with Tito Mukhopadhyay, Savarese delved into a news story about a group of trapped Chilean miners. When he invited Tito to share his empathetic experience of the story, he replied: My empathy would probably be towards the flashlight batteries of those trapped coal miners if there happens to be a selection on my part. Or my empathy would be towards the trapped air around those coal miners. There would be me watching through the eyes of the flashlight cell the utter hopelessness of those unfortunate miners as my last chemicals struggled to glow the faint bulb so that I didn’t leave them dying in darkness. As the air around them, I would try to find a way to let myself squeeze every bit of oxygen I have to allow the doomed lungs to breathe, for I am responsible for their doom

THE MAKER OF WANTING SPACE
I want to say that I want
to amazing space think
about the way I move
to think

I game the space the way
I open with the body and the way
I think which is the way
of water

It touches me open and I am
away with really easy feelings
of dancing for the answering
really rare always rallying
thinking and it is rare with the way
people think

Adam Wolfond, nonspeaking poet and artist/autist

ANIMAL EAR
I hear great trying free sounds that you
do not hear yes it is

hard to try to live trying to hear the way
I do and you go listen

to me really hard to hear both at the same
time. I hear the vibrations

of your thoughts. I hear helpful plants
grow to the sun. I hear

the sun rays of healing light becoming
life freedom to breathe

life into hopeful hopeful life…
Hannah Emerson

BECOMING MUD
Please be with me great free animals. I want to be
with you great being of light…

Please try to get the mud

helpful to you if you become mud too.
Please get that great animals are all

autistic. Please love poets we are the first
autistics. Love this secret no one knows it.

Hannah Emerson

Take good care to shape with language worlds that want to hold us all
—Adjua Gargi Nzinga Greaves

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

what a beautiful book! it made me think deeply about poetry, language, and the (dis)value of neurodiverse voices

[Rhythrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author (and his collaborators) has so many profound perspectives I would never even thought of. I'm very grateful I read this book.

[Gabrielle Schwabauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think there's a perfect way for someone who is not autistic to write a book about autism. The author, Chris, does have ADHD, and understands what it's like to have a brain that the world may not want to allow. And in general, I think he does a really good job esteeming and elevating the voices of the autistic poets who surround him. A couple times he toed the line of "I feel more at home in this marginalized community (that I am not part of) than anywhere else!" that can feel a little . . . eh . . . but he also does a solid job acknowledging the areas where he is privileged.

Even as an autistic person, I don't know how exactly to review the book. I have privilege, too. I am speaking and while most people perceive me as "weird" somehow, they don't typically make assumptions about my intellectual capacity or my ability to care about other human beings. I didn't grow up with ABA therapy. I didn't even find out I was autistic until I was an adult, and all the hundreds of little pieces came together. I would love to hear perspectives on this book from nonspeaking autistic reviewers or autists who have chosen to, or been forced to, receive therapies.

As a poet, I loved the pages and pages of poems. Beautiful and so compelling, with such surprising and inventive language. The structure of each chapter flowed from topic to topic so well, weaving anecdotes and poetry with Chris's own thoughts. At times I couldn't put it down. Chris is correct that ableism is a topic that U.S. society is still VERY uncomfortable even acknowledging, much less addressing in a meaningful way. We still think that "autism moms" and "special ed teachers" are the foremost authorities on the autistic experience. Chris's reflections, and those of students like Hannah or Max, on the interconnectedness of humanity are a breath of fresh air. I hope, hope, hope that this book is listened to. I hope tomorrow wakes up and keeps waking.

"I see the moon / and the moon sees Khalil / the moon is sad / about testing his intelligence"

[SaraCat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetry is something I often struggle to feel like I'm grasping what the poem could mean - even if/when I'm told readers can think/feel what they want; that it's okay to not 'know' what the author was originally thinking when they wrote it. So, while the poems within the book sometimes felt above what I could gather on a first listen to, I did greatly love the narrative Martin shares of some of his students over the years. It is beautiful and hopeful to see how different autists (as Martin often refers to himself and his autistic students) are given tools and paths to express themselves. Whether just for themselves, other autists, or for neurotypical people so that they may have a glimpse into an autistic mind, Martin very respectfully and heartfully shares part of their stories as poets/writers.

I also thought it was wonderful how Martin included topics like race, gender, disability, acceptance, etc. within this narrative. None of the big topics and social issues stand isolated. So even though the focus remained on autists, if one of his student's was also dealing with other social issues as well, and that student included that in their poetry, Martin addressed it.

So much of life is complex, and while this book doesn't oversimplify things, it does make stepping into the understanding that each autistic person is a whole human - regardless of how they communicate with the world and those around them - an easier step because of its focus on specific individuals.

[Colleen Jantzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind and ever kind of wonderful

[Abigail Pappas · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - this is the type of book that you don’t simply read. You read, consider, reread, and forever meditate on the “languaging” of the neurodiverse poets featured in this book.

I found myself comforted and freed from the constraints of neurotypical communication and its world. I wrote two poems while reading this book as a response to this freedom; the organic nature of my own “languaging” seemed to evolve through the collective and individual voices present in May Tomorrow Be Awake.

I would recommend this to any creative who dreams of broadening their world and art towards a more neurodiverse future.

[Sarah Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mmm I really enjoyed this book. Fundamentally anti-abilist, this book is a reprogramming of the mind to unlearn deficit thinking. In addition to being anti-capitalist and anti-racist. I also learned a great deal about the poetry writing process! You can tell the author is a poet himself by the way the book was written. Very flowery, which I enjoyed, but might not be for everyone. This book felt empowering and deeply insightful. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because towards the it it became a bit rambling and repetitive.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a unique take, and I liked the way the author communicated with the autists (his word) through poetry. I'm glad I read this book, even if I didn't fully understand it.

[M]

An unmissable book on poetry and neurodivergence, the lyricism and the „how” of autism, “May Tomorrow Be Awake” by Chris Martin, follows him as he teaches - and learns from - autistic youth the craft of poetry.

“Sometimes my most important role as teacher is doing nothing.” writes Martin, showing how much caring attention and patent presence play a role in making space for others to express themselves. That practice, and “always listening” make him open to see the tools that the students have “given us to understand what the poem is doing and wants to do.”

Refusing to pathologize autism and deepening an understanding of its specific characteristics, Martin, with the work of language and poetry, weave a time-space in which autistics can be seen as embodying poetic perceptions, rather than deficits: “Because autism is characterized by a desire for repetition and its grounding force, the first accommodation I offer is to begin each line in an identical and predictable fashion. In the medical community this is called “perseveration.” Among poets this is called “anaphora.” Perseveration is generally considered a deficit, a flaw that bespeaks faulty wiring. In poetry circles, where intellect is generally presumed, it is considered an intentional and fundamental tool.”

One of Adam Wolflond’s lines, for example, extends the invitation to neurotypicals, calling for another form of moving-perceiving: “I think people / don’t take the time / to explore / their steps and that / means they just think / about their own without / extending / the choreography.” He is not the only one who pin-points the way in which bodily movement is poetic language; Sid Ghosh writes “Spinning I harness / poetry of the Earth.”

For Martin and for his students poems are not individual endeavors, but rather conversations, the poem “is an act of radical hospitality, making space for unexpected collaborations and choreographies.”

At the end you can find a list of the fascinating poems discussed throughout the book & the names of the young writers: Max and Mark Eati, Adam Wolfond, Zach, Bill Bernard, Hannah Emerson, Max Zolotukhin-Ridgway, Lonnie Shaw, Imane Boukaila, Sid Ghosh and Amelia Bell.

PS. I found this book at the recommendation of a Romanian autistic poet, Yigru Zeltil - check out his much more in-depth review: https://revistaalger.substack.com/p/r...

[Ziggi Chavez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please join me in the mud, to come to grownd and find one another at the intersection of community. Found together in the stillness between time and erratic thought. This book inspired me to write again after over a decade of my poetry being locked away after a shameful critique by a self-righteous neurotypical “teacher” of my past. Just reading the introduction brought me that safe sanctuary from which to allow myself to once again embrace myself as a keeper of the light. I cannot recommend this book enough, but caution that the reader needs to retain the ability to join the author and his students/mentors/friends autistic and neurodiverse together, in a place of suspense of that we might call normal in order to perceive that which comes naturally in its own time. You must learn to be woke, and awaken each new step along the way to understanding and community from the most humbling to the most enigmatic amongst us. Awakening is a processes never at its end, but instead is an action of coming together and embracing what we can learn and share when not alone. Words alone cannot do Justice to the inspirational quality of the experience that was sharing in this journey.

[Tamzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book! The premise is that the author, Chris Martin, works with autistic students to help them express themselves via poetry. Reading the poetry itself is awesome, and at the end of the book there is an anthology of all the poems, if that's what you're most interested in. Throughout the book, Martin describes the encounters with various students and how the brightened and enjoyed the process of creating poetry art. It is really nice to read a book about working with autistic people that isn't focused on changing them or "overcoming" anything, and is instead focused on the process of the autistic brain and how it expresses itself in each person's instance. Some stories felt a bit repetitive, but I feel like that was true to Martin's experience.

Recommended for you if you enjoy the inner workings of neurodivergent minds, and the art they create, stories with poetry thrown in, or nonfiction about different education systems for differing brains!

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperOne for the e-ARC!

[Kimberly]

Poetry is one of those art forms that I want to love but feel like I just don't "get", and not from lack of trying. So take that into consideration when reading my review. I was initially drawn to this book since I have a nonverbal child on the autism spectrum. I am fascinated by the brain and language, and the ways people can make themselves understood. This book is a wonderful snapshot into the minds of people who may not otherwise feel able to express themselves. Poetry is amazing in that way. Both its structure and fluidity make it the perfect outlet. Do you feel most comfortable with time-tested rules and parameters? Poetry. Do you need the freedom to write free of constraints and expectations? Poetry. Do you want to show others your inner life, even if just a glimpse of it, capture it on a page? Poetry.

Whether you love poetry or not, whether you are interested in neurodiversity or don't even know what that means, please check out this book. It is a joy to hear the voices.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperOne for the digital galley of this book.

This book is an interesting memoir by a teacher who works with neurodivergent students that also has poems written by autistic poets. Neurodivergent folks have the ability to hyper focus on certain things and view the world from different points of view than neurotypical folks and they/we have a lot to contribute. Martin approaches his work with the idea that traditional structure of language prevents folks with autism from communicating the full depth of their experiences and encourages them to express themselves through verse.

As someone with sensory processing sensitivity, I’m always looking for more neurodivergent rep, and the author is also hyper sensitive. I enjoyed reading Martin’s experiences and the poetry of his students that he shares here.

[Jamelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

With compassion, beauty and grace, Chris Martin documents his experiences teaching poetry to autistic children and young adults and how these students have changed his life and perspective for the better.

As a language instructor and advocate for students with disabilities, I learned a lot about autism and the misconceptions that surround it through reading this work. I learned about the technological and pedagogical tools and the partnerships that autistic individuals employ to communicate with others. These students have rich inner lives and an immense capacity to sense and synthesize the world around them if they are given a teacher or communication partner who is willing to allow them to express themselves on their own terms.

This work is heartfelt and powerful, and I would recommend it to teachers, advocates and parents.

[Nolan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not only essential to Autistic academia, but it’s deeply thought-provoking for how we define and use Neurodivergent gifts, linguistics, and poetry. I loved how Chris Martin allowed readers to enter each therapeutic space and let the poet guide the session, allowing artistry, authenticity, and sensitivity to take its highest form. This is also the first book that gives shape to how non-speaking autists can express themselves through their perspective of the world. Martin also complements each section with his own research and journey into becoming a Neurodivergent poetic therapist. 10/10 I can’t wait to read more books from Martin & dive into more Autistic poetry!

[Whitney Weinberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! What a powerful read.
Combining poems with the thought process of Neurodivergent artists to make a cerebral experience that really helps expand how to see the world and how important all people are in shaping how society can be more equitable, understanding and awake to what is going on.
I really enjoyed this book my go to genres are not usually poetry but this was moving and the in-depth discussions on how the poems came to be were great.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperOne for an e ARC of this book.

[Eunice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the poetry in this book and hearing the stories of the individuals who wrote the poems. Martin showcases a wide range of autistic individuals ranging from those who are non-verbal to trans autists to an autist with down syndrome and presents their poetry along with their life stories.

I liked this book for the most part, but unfortunatley there were some sections that were boring and just a little too long. Particularly while Martin is inserting his opinions. Overall I liked his message and how he disproves common myths about autism.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

An autistic teacher introduces autistic children to poetry writing teaching the absolute basics. Relationship between autististic sensibility and the special magic of poetry via the space and freedom it offers to use language to express anything, anyway - where other writing practise, the borders and walls of set styles and forms, and definitions and rules prohibit - and in doing so limit what poets of all kinds actually can bring to light. Loved it, subjectively and objectively.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book changed my life. So much so, that I spent an entire therapy session talking about it, and then later that same day, I sent my therapist an excerpt because "I thought it tied in so well with our conversations about community and belonging." If everyone read this book, the world would be a better place.

[Maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down

this book was good! it didn't change my life, but it was a very good read. the way he talks about his students is incredible and he really puts him on the same level with them. very good. planning to use it for a project this semester, so it's a good text to use for academics!

[allyson link · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an educator, this was a beautiful work that I think everyone in the school system should read.Very uplifting and a reminder that everyone is doing what they can with the tools and resources they are given.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this felt like being back in Chris's classroom—full of love for people and language, conveyed with warmth and candor. What joy to meet the brilliant young writers and their hopes through caringly transposed conversation and luminous exercises in collaborating, poeming, awakening to dance.

[Spencer Bookcase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've posted my review of May Tomorrow Be Awake on my blog (link here). It would be great if you checked it out!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for writing this book. Yes, yes, yes.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author brings such a beautiful and hopeful perspective on the current state of the world and the transformative power of listening. I truly loved this book.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read the poems

[Pip · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5