T118.
What It Means to Be Free
Thursday, March 24, 2022
9:00 am to 10:15 am
In his 1983 “Letter to Prisoners,” James Baldwin writes: "What artists and prisoners have in common is that we both know what it means to be free." For the writer and activist concerned with social justice, the mass incarceration system in the US is the final frontier of arts programming and writing workshops. Writers and educators within the system will discuss trauma-informed pedagogical strategies, censorship, and structures you can implement for correctional engagement in your community.
Participants
Jen Fitzgerald is a poet, essayist, and photographer. She is the founder of Arthur Kill Books. Her first full-length collection, The Art of Work, was published by Noemi Press in 2016. Her work has appeared in such venues as PBS NewsHour, Tin House, Boston Review, and NER. JenFitzgerald.com
Gigi Blanchard is a writer and founder of The Kite, which facilitates storytelling workshops in detention centers for youth in adults across NYC. Her work draws on her own experience of coming of age in youth prisons, and she is currently seeking representation for her forthcoming memoir. gigiblanchard.com
Ravi Shankar, Pushcart-prize winning author of Correctional and professor at Tufts University, has written fifteen books. Chairman of Asia Pacific Writers & Translators and founder of Drunken Boat, he has won fellowships from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and PEN. He has appeared on the BBC, PBS, and NPR and in the New York Times and the Paris Review.
Rosalyn Spencer, educator and advocate, holds a BA in English, MLS in public library studies, and MEd in educational leadership. She directs youth art programs and teaches English Language Arts in greater New Orleans. She is a grant writer, advocate, and supporter of the arts in education and equitable curriculum.
Jessica Hall, LMSW, is the founder and executive director of Prison Writes. Jessica has over two decades experience working with marginalized and vulnerable populations and graduated with honors from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College with a focus on community organizing.
