Arts Learning

We offer fourteen creative writing workshops in three Minnesota correctional facilities: Stillwater, Oak Park Heights, and Lino Lakes. 140 men took our classes getting introductions to poetry, fiction writing, and essay writing. Prior to this, there was not one ongoing, consistent creative writing workshop offered in any facility. In addition to offering courses, some facilities allowed non-student inmates to attend internal end-course readings so additional incarcerated men were exposed to opportunities. Many of our students reported, anecdotally, that they found reading partners in the prison at large. These men became trusted readers, offering informal feedback and following their friends' work and progress. In addition, our students often wrote about men they were incarcerated with. Those men happily became literary subjects themselves. We were thrilled at the ripple effects, which we never anticipated. 2: Incarcerated writers have the literal barrier of a razor wire fence. We essentially brought literary community into the prison for long-term classes, readings, and discussion. By bringing writing instruction into prison facilities while honoring necessary security restrictions, we effectively eliminated a mostly-untrespassed barrier to exposure. We were elated at the reach we had with kindly cooperation from the Minnesota Department of Corrections.