Once You're Inside: Poems Exploring Incarceration

Bracken, Ann

ISBN 10: 0578867680 / ISBN 13: 9780578867687

Published by Charing Cross Press (edition ), 2021

About this Item

It's a well-cared-for item that has seen limited use. The item may show minor signs of wear. All the text is legible, with all pages included. It may have slight markings and/or highlighting.

Seller Inventory # 0578867680-11-1

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Once You're Inside: Poems Exploring Incarceration
• Publisher: Charing Cross Press (edition )
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0578867680
• ISBN 13: 9780578867687
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Once You're Inside is a poetry collection that details Ann Bracken's volunteer experiences working in prison-based writing programs. Prison had been the last place on her mind when she thought about volunteering. Why would she want to work with those people--drug dealers and gang members? But after a few visits, she was so impressed with the men's keen insights, humility, and passion for learning, that she volunteered regularly for three years in two Maryland prisons. Her friends and family were concerned for her safety every time she went back. "The incarcerated people are not who you think they are," she assured them. The men and women Bracken met hungered to learn, yet most of their educations were halted at the GED level. And many of them, like Vincent, had grown up in foster care and spent half their lives in prison. Another man, Ryan, told her, "I came here when I was 15. I'm 40 now." But the most heartbreaking line that Bracken heard was this from one of the women: "You're the first new person we've seen in seven years." The poems in Once You're Inside will introduce readers to memorable characters living in harsh and inhumane conditions. People who are willing to contribute to their communities in positive ways, if only someone would give them a chance.

About the Author

Ann Bracken has published three poetry collections, The Altar of Innocence, No Barking in the Hallways: Poems from the Classroom and Once You're Inside: Poetry Exploring Incarceration. She serves as a contributing editor for Little Patuxent Review, and co-facilitates the Wilde Readings Poetry Series in Columbia, Maryland. She volunteers as a correspondent for the Justice Arts Coalition, exchanging letters with incarcerated people to foster their use of the arts. Her poetry, essays, and interviews have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals, her work has been featured on Best American Poetry, and she's been a guest on Grace Cavalieri's The Poet and The Poem radio show. Her advocacy work promotes using the arts to foster paradigm change in the areas of emotional wellness, education, and prison abolition.