I’ve been teaching classes in prison off and on since 2011 through Wesleyan University’s Center for Prison Education. It’s been the greatest teaching experience of my life and one of the greatest experiences of my life overall. And I’m old. It’s equal parts exhilarating and heartbreaking. The waste. The cruelty. The joy of being with people who love learning as much as you do. Thanks for this post.
Hi Elizabeth--thanks for the interesting comment and the work you do in prison education. When I drive from my side of the Bay (east) over to Marin (west) I pass San Quentin Prison, recently renamed San Quentin Rehabilitation Center with the governor's aim to shift the prison's focus toward rehabilitation, education, and vocational training, like the Scandinavian models. That will take time (and $$$). San Quentin has long had an accredited liberal arts college on the campus.
have you read Running the Books by Avi Steinberg? It's his memoir working in a prison library in Boston. Great read. Thank you for the work you're doing.
Hi Marie. I just finished Avi Steinberg's memoir about his time as a librarian in a federal prison in Boston. Thank you for the recommendation. Yes a good memoir, but also so much insight into the prison system. He writes about so many of the prison residents and staff is great detail I wonder if he got permission from everyone, or if he changed all the names, that sort writing process stuff. Looks like he's a cartoonist now. Thx again.
Thanks for this essay, and for pointing me toward Swimming Upside Down. I love the analysis you offer of Kao's story--even your retelling begged to be read aloud. Given your interest in prison narratives, gotta return the favor and recommend "Inside this Place, Not of It," an anthology of first-person narratives collected and published by Voice of Witness.
Thx Nicole. I've requested the anthology. Coincidentally, I interviewed the anthology editor Ayelet Waldman about her book on macrodosing, although I think mostly she writes novels. I'll share a rec too--The Volunteer by Gianna Toboni. She braids the personal narrative of a death row inmate who she had a lot of access to. with a researched deep dive into the situation with the death penalty in the US today. Toboni is a journalist and documentary film maker and the book read like a story.
Lyrical and beautiful. I felt that that rat bites were a skilled and visceral transition back to the real. It all unravels with the mention of home. It seems he won't get there. Song's final imperative is a bit like The Lady or The Tiger. White in China is death and the opposite in Iowa. While he's an easy mark in the camp the, story's logic twists our everyday logic.
Yes - and as you probably know, that’s where the podcast Ear Hustle is created. I just discovered your Stack and I’m enjoying it - I wish I could keep up with all the Stack reading I enjoy.
Love this themed exploration of book, essay and story today. It's just as thoughtful and thorough as the presentation you did for CraftTalks last week, Essays on the Writing Life. It was such a clarifying and generous disection on how to write such an essay that I came away thinking, "I can do that." Thanks for the effort I know must have gone into making that an excellent, practical presentation.
Thanks Frances. Hope you can make it to Submit It Now--we talk mostly about the lit mag submission process, but some outlets for essays require pitches--happy to talk about that too.
Thank you for this rec Marie. I've requested the book. When will I find time to read all of these great recs :-) Thanks for the kind words. Hope you are doing well. -A
AH David, your insights are lyrical too, as always. Thank you. Check out her Substack: https://swimmingupsidedown.substack.com as there are other essays and stories by Karen posted, posthumously. Karen passed away about a year ago and her family is carrying her legacy forward, posting and publishing her writing that had not yet been released.
I’ve been teaching classes in prison off and on since 2011 through Wesleyan University’s Center for Prison Education. It’s been the greatest teaching experience of my life and one of the greatest experiences of my life overall. And I’m old. It’s equal parts exhilarating and heartbreaking. The waste. The cruelty. The joy of being with people who love learning as much as you do. Thanks for this post.
Hi Elizabeth--thanks for the interesting comment and the work you do in prison education. When I drive from my side of the Bay (east) over to Marin (west) I pass San Quentin Prison, recently renamed San Quentin Rehabilitation Center with the governor's aim to shift the prison's focus toward rehabilitation, education, and vocational training, like the Scandinavian models. That will take time (and $$$). San Quentin has long had an accredited liberal arts college on the campus.
As the mother of an incarcerated man, THANK YOU!!
have you read Running the Books by Avi Steinberg? It's his memoir working in a prison library in Boston. Great read. Thank you for the work you're doing.
Hi Marie. I just finished Avi Steinberg's memoir about his time as a librarian in a federal prison in Boston. Thank you for the recommendation. Yes a good memoir, but also so much insight into the prison system. He writes about so many of the prison residents and staff is great detail I wonder if he got permission from everyone, or if he changed all the names, that sort writing process stuff. Looks like he's a cartoonist now. Thx again.
Different guy :)
:-)
Thanks for this essay, and for pointing me toward Swimming Upside Down. I love the analysis you offer of Kao's story--even your retelling begged to be read aloud. Given your interest in prison narratives, gotta return the favor and recommend "Inside this Place, Not of It," an anthology of first-person narratives collected and published by Voice of Witness.
Thx Nicole. I've requested the anthology. Coincidentally, I interviewed the anthology editor Ayelet Waldman about her book on macrodosing, although I think mostly she writes novels. I'll share a rec too--The Volunteer by Gianna Toboni. She braids the personal narrative of a death row inmate who she had a lot of access to. with a researched deep dive into the situation with the death penalty in the US today. Toboni is a journalist and documentary film maker and the book read like a story.
Lyrical and beautiful. I felt that that rat bites were a skilled and visceral transition back to the real. It all unravels with the mention of home. It seems he won't get there. Song's final imperative is a bit like The Lady or The Tiger. White in China is death and the opposite in Iowa. While he's an easy mark in the camp the, story's logic twists our everyday logic.
Yes - and as you probably know, that’s where the podcast Ear Hustle is created. I just discovered your Stack and I’m enjoying it - I wish I could keep up with all the Stack reading I enjoy.
Love this themed exploration of book, essay and story today. It's just as thoughtful and thorough as the presentation you did for CraftTalks last week, Essays on the Writing Life. It was such a clarifying and generous disection on how to write such an essay that I came away thinking, "I can do that." Thanks for the effort I know must have gone into making that an excellent, practical presentation.
So moved by the stories you shared. I hope to attend your Pitch It Now zoom event.
Thanks Frances. Hope you can make it to Submit It Now--we talk mostly about the lit mag submission process, but some outlets for essays require pitches--happy to talk about that too.
Always so good.
Thank you for this rec Marie. I've requested the book. When will I find time to read all of these great recs :-) Thanks for the kind words. Hope you are doing well. -A
AH David, your insights are lyrical too, as always. Thank you. Check out her Substack: https://swimmingupsidedown.substack.com as there are other essays and stories by Karen posted, posthumously. Karen passed away about a year ago and her family is carrying her legacy forward, posting and publishing her writing that had not yet been released.
Thanks Char. And yes--YOU can definitely write that essay and I'm looking forward to reading it :-)