Marlin Barton

Marlin Barton, a writer and teacher who lives in Montgomery, Alabama, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 16 years ago at age 37. His new collection of short stories entitled Pasture Art is just out from Hub City Press. He teaches creative writing to juvenile offenders in a program called Writing Our Stories, and he also teaches creative writing in the low-residency MFA program at Converse College. The following is an excerpt from the short story, Pasture Art.

A Writer with Diabetes Creates a Character with Diabetes

Leah walks past her mother and gets the vial of insulin out of the refrigerator. After she draws the right number of units, her mother lifts her shirt and Leah makes the injection into a small roll of pinched fat on her stomach right between two small bruises. “You could do this yourself,” she says. “You ought to. They showed you how.”

Accepting Diabetes: A Man’s Journey

Seeing the number in front of me was, I suppose, another moment where I had to accept a truth. Then, if that weren’t enough confirmation already, the nurse left the room and in a little while the doctor came barging in the door and said unceremoniously, “Yep, you’re diabetic.”