Arts Practices in Prison and My Practice

I want to discus arts practices within prison.

Firstly, I want to share a presentation that I made as part of a class. The presentation looks at Vox Liminis, an arts organisation based in Glasgow that works with people affected by the criminal justice system.

Vox Liminis

We were also lucky to be able to have a conversation with the artists that work within Polmont Youth Theater which is part of Glass Performance. They told us about their current project using the emailing system to communicate with prisoners while locked down. It was really interesting to hear about the kind of work that they had been doing and listening to the ways in which they have adapted as a result of the COVID restrictions.

I then began to think about my own practice and where the art making I was already engaging with can sit within this context. When I think of my practice the things that feel most at the forefront are poetry/writing, book making and facilitation. I have been writing and performing poetry for many years and also working as part of a publishing company that produces poetry books as well as running writing workshops. Pre-pandemic, this was my main artistic outlet and focus.

I started to look at examples of where poetry sits within this context.

The first place that I chose to look was at the work of Judith Tennenbaum, the teacher that Spoon referenced as the person that helped him to start writing poetry.

Tennenbaum started teaching in San Quentin in 1985. I have included this talk that I found of Tennenbaum talking about her experience:

It is interesting to hear Tennenbaum talk about how she found a place for her writing and teaching practice within this prison context.

Another example of poetry within a prison context is the organisation PEN

Pen is an organisation based in the USA and was founded in 1922. They say of themselves:

“For more than four decades, PEN America’s Prison Writing Program has amplified the writing of thousands of imprisoned writers by providing free resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their writing. We are proud to share our deepening commitment to confronting our era of mass incarceration with the launch of the PEN America Writing For Justice Fellowship.” 

It was interesting to look at this organisation that worked with poetry, especially due to the scale of the operation that they run. It’s clear through PEN’s statement that thousands of people within prison have been engaging with poetry and encouraged me to think about the ways in which I would be able to use poetry as part of my creative resource.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 https://www.voxliminis.co.uk/

https://www.glassperformance.co.uk/polmont-youth-theatre/

https://pen.org/