Re: [BKARTS] [OT] Prison erases writing workshop files after inmate wins $25,000 PEN award

[Bruce Levy <levybooks@xxxxxxxxx>]

If there is occasionally "justice" in our justice system, I think it's due more to fortunate circumstance then "the system working".

B
----- Original Message -----
From: Barbara Fay Wiese <bwiese@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date:         Fri, 16 Apr 2004 10:03:03 -0400
To: BOOK_ARTS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [BKARTS] [OT] Prison erases writing workshop files after inmate wins $25,000 PEN award

> Especially for Suzanne;
>
> I would urge you to read the book, "Couldn't Keep It to Myself. . ." by
> Wally Lamb and the women inmates.
>
> This book and the writing by these women do not sensationalize crime -
> their own or any other.  The PEN awards do not sensationalize crime. The
> PEN Writing Program is based on this premise: "Convinced that writing is
> inherently rehabilitative, PEN's Prison Writing Program launched its
> first annual literary competition in 1973 for men and women in federal
> and state prisons and jails throughout the country, and it has continued
> without interruption ever since. PEN PWP Committee members are
> volunteers; most have experience teaching in prisons. Each year prizes
> are awarded in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama, and a selection of
> winning works are celebrated in public readings."
>
> Our whole system of justice does very little to rehabilitate people who
> have committed crimes or to enact a process of restoration in the lives
> of victims, survivors, and perpetrators - and those are the things that
> resolve heartache and bring peace and the ability to move forward in
> life for victims,  perpetrators, and our society.
>
> I speak from experience; my sister and brother-in-law were killed in a
> sensless murder spree.
>
> Barbara
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SAP [mailto:sap@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 10:59 PM
> To: BOOK_ARTS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [OT] Prison erases writing workshop files after inmate wins
> $25,000 PEN award
>
>
> The issues here could be that:
> a) it is inappropriate to profit from crime ... either their own or
> others.
> b) the victims could feel revictimised by the crime being made public in
> such a sensationalist manner.
> c) the content could be used by others as the basis for new crime
> (without the mistakes that got the inmates caught).
>
> Suzanne
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Susan Lightcap" <slightcap@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <BOOK_ARTS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 7:52 AM
> Subject: Re: [OT] Prison erases writing workshop files after inmate wins
> $25,000 PEN award
>
>
> > WHY????????  Is it not okay for excellence to come to the fore in
> > prison? Is that not a sure sign of  inmate improvement?  Huh?  Am I
> > missing some huge moral lesson here?  Sheesh, betwen Antonin Scalia
> > and his tape
> erasing
> > minions and the Connecticut penal system's response to a real writer
> > emerging under its tender care, we're in real trouble (not to mention
> > all the other stuff  . . . ).
> >
> > Susan Lightcap
> >
> >              ***********************************************
> >         See the Book_Arts-L FAQ at: <http://www.philobiblon.com>
> >
> >      *Postings may not be re-printed in any form without the express
> >      consent of the author - Please respect their contributions & (c)*
> >
> >         Archive maintained and suppported by Conservation OnLine
> >                     <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu>
> >              ***********************************************
> >
>
>              ***********************************************
>         See the Book_Arts-L FAQ at: <http://www.philobiblon.com>
>
>      *Postings may not be re-printed in any form without the express
>      consent of the author - Please respect their contributions & (c)*
>
>         Archive maintained and suppported by Conservation OnLine
>                     <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu>
>              ***********************************************
>
>              ***********************************************
>         See the Book_Arts-L FAQ at: <http://www.philobiblon.com>
>
>      *Postings may not be re-printed in any form without the express
>      consent of the author - Please respect their contributions & ©*
>
>         Archive maintained and suppported by Conservation OnLine
>                     <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu>
>              ***********************************************

             ***********************************************
        See the Book_Arts-L FAQ at: <http://www.philobiblon.com>

     *Postings may not be re-printed in any form without the express
     consent of the author - Please respect their contributions & ©*

        Archive maintained and suppported by Conservation OnLine
                    <http://palimpsest.stanford.edu>
             ***********************************************