The Sentences That Create Us
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- 16,99 €
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- 16,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
The Sentences That Create Us draws from the unique insights of over fifty justice-involved contributors and their allies to offer inspiration and resources for creating a literary life in prison. Centering in the philosophy that writers in prison can be as vibrant and capable as writers on the outside, and have much to offer readers everywhere, The Sentences That Create Us aims to propel writers in prison to launch their work into the world beyond the walls, while also embracing and supporting the creative community within the walls.
The Sentences That Create Us is a comprehensive resource writers can grow with, beginning with the foundations of creative writing. A roster of impressive contributors including Reginald Dwayne Betts (Felon: Poems), Mitchell S. Jackson (Survival Math), Wilbert Rideau (In the Place of Justice) and Piper Kerman (Orange is the New Black), among many others, address working within and around the severe institutional, emotional, psychological and physical limitations of writing prison through compelling first-person narratives. The book’s authors offer pragmatic advice on editing techniques, pathways to publication, writing routines, launching incarcerated-run prison publications and writing groups, lesson plans from prison educators and next-step resources.
Threaded throughout the book is the running theme of addressing lived trauma in writing, and writing’s capacity to support an authentic healing journey centered in accountability and restoration. While written towards people in the justice system, this book can serve anyone seeking hard won lessons and inspiration for their own creative—and human—journey.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Writing advice and memoir come together in this powerful guide to creating a literary life while imprisoned. "There is no technology more democratic than language," Reginald Dwayne Betts writes in his foreword; in the sections that follow, contributors share their notes on the craft. The advice on plotting, creating art, structuring poetry, highlighting grammar and punctuation, and getting published is concise and on-point, as are the writing prompts that round things out. What sets this apart from the average guide, though, are the contributors' backstories, which are woven throughout. For example, Luis J. Rodriguez, who composed the chapter "On Poetry," "sat on murderers row in the Hall of Justice Jail" in 1970 Los Angeles on possible charges of homicide. Rodriguez "began to write. Thoughts, vignettes, anecdotes," before being released, and went on to eventually author 16 books. Patrick O'Neil's tale is equally memorable—he'd been convicted for armed robbery and "confined to a cell for twenty-three hours a day with a serial killer for a cellie." O'Neil joined a prison writing group and found inspiration in Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, which paved the way for his memoir. These glimpses of light in conditions of darkness and pain are inspirational; the result is a moving paean to the power of writing.
