Celebrating the creativity of the stammering community.
Have you or your family member made something stammer-related? We want to hear about it! Send us your drawings, paintings, poems, music, stories, films, art projects, whatever. Email us at editor@stamma.org and we'll share it here.
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Dysfluent magazine
Artist and designer Conor Foran's magazine Dysfluent has been included in the V&A's Design & Disability exhibition, showing until 15th February 2026. Read all about the magazine in our article from Conor.
Title
Stammering
By Isobel Stephenson
Stammering is rad
It doesn't have to be bad
Nothing has to change
Just an exchange
Everyone is unique
We can make a difference
Be the opposite of implemented
Be the difference that you want with your speech
Be complete
But most of all...
Be yourself and embrace your stammer.
(5th August 2025)
A life between two poems
By Tim Shanks
1975 - Stammering, Staggering, Stuttering, Stumbling
The shattering helplessness
Of being without the faculty of speech.
The incredible isolation and total panic
During the embarrassing silence
That occurs In the excruciating seconds
Before I am able to speak.
My eyes shift anxiously away from my listener's
Impatient and uncomprehending gaze
And I hope they don't see my lips
Trembling over a reluctant word
Which eventually stumbles over my vocal cords
And staggers out of my mouth
Leaving behind a painful sense of failure
Left lingering in my mouth, memory and soul.
2025 - Resuscitating Stammering
For fifty years
I have tried to avoid
The existence of my stammer
I swallowed
Its bitter pill
It strangled and choked
A life out of me
I have slowly and painfully learnt
Why I did this to myself
I am still coming to terms with it all
Trying to stammer myself back to life!
(29th July 2025)
Title
Frankie's stammer microphone
Jessica Smethurst emailed us to say, "My daughter Frankie's school ran a competition called 'If You Were An Engineer What Would You Do?' and asked the kids to create something helpful. Frankie came up with the idea of a stammer microphone, where people speak into the mic and their speech comes out fluent. Out of thousands of entries, Frankie won a Highly Commended award for her idea! This was such a huge achievement for her". (22nd July 2025)
Let's draw our stammer workshop
On 15th April 2025, we ran an online workshop called 'Let's Draw Our Stammer'. The host was cartoonist Daniele Rossi, author of the book Draw Your Stutter, who invited participants to imagine what their stammer looked like. Here are some of the results...
'Splutter' by Scarlett, aged 9
Scarlett writes: 'Splutter stammers and that's OK!'
'Siwl' by Ned, aged 9
Pronounced 'Sil', Ned shows us how his stammer might look.
'A nice birthday gesture' by Jamie, aged 10
Jamie's character makes a birthday wish that everyone knows how to react when someone stammers.
Title
From Storm to Calm
By Daniel Sydenham
In dreams of helping, I find my guide
Through tough school days, I walked with pride
Bullies beat me down till I took a stand
Turned my life around, made my own brand.
Emotions shift with each line I write
Sadness, frustration, sometimes pride ignites
Determined, my stammer turned to strength
Every poem, my journey's length.
Seeing my life like a river's flow
Through every twist and turn, I grow
In echoes of empowerment, my voice shines clear
In my poetry, my truth becomes clear
Each verse, a piece of my story here.
I picture my journey as a storm that brings the calm
When I'd had enough, I unleashed a storm
Destroying bullying and torment in my path
Until the storm passed, leaving no wrath.
The calm came, the path now clear
No bullying, no torment left to fear
Just peace and quiet in my mind
My journey's reflection, one of a kind.
With each word, I tear down the wall
Transforming struggle into light
My voice is strong — it's clear and bright
Echoing empowerment, shining bright.
(6th November 2024)
A Poem for those who stammer
By Liam Roberts
Imagine yourself, red-faced, temper rising
Indignant even, in the face of rudeness or insult
A match of protest struck within
To which you have a perfect response,
The deftest of rebuttals
And the smartest of replies
But
In that moment, you choke
With the familiar feeling way down in your stomach
Rising hot with embarrassment, writhing in shame
All the way up to your throat
There, it is a boiling, bubbling lump of frustration
Stuck, seemingly forevermore at the final hurdle —
The mouth.
Words which were meant to ride the ebb and the flow of your every breath,
To come out smooth and with purpose
Now sputter, stumble, and stutter from you,
Seemingly evaporating all meaning to what you were poised to say.
The moment gone, the horse bolted and you've fallen from your saddle,
All that is left to show are a sea of faces,
Some patient, some sympathetic, some mocking
Peering through your looking-glass
And froze in the moment with you.
For you, this moment lasts an aching, burning eternity
But for them, it's a slight frown or a look of small pity,
A few seconds in time soon forgotten.
They do not know, they must not know — how could they?
What it is to have the tied — tongues of those who stammer.
(24th October 2024)
Changing the words, by Sharon
Watch Sharon read her poem to the audience at our STAMMAFest event in Nottingham, in August 2024.
