October 16, 2022 | 2pm | In Person Only | Free with admission, free for members
Prisons Have A Long Memory, an anthology of writing by adults in custody will be presented by editors Tracy Schlapp and Daniel Wilson of the nonprofit Bridgeworks Oregon, in partnership with Sterling Cunio, program coordinator for Willamette University’s Transformative Justice Initiative, and Kyle Hedquist, policy and outreach Associate for Oregon Justice Resource Center. They will read from the anthology’s section “Coming Home,” as an introduction to a conversation about what it means to come home from prison.
The discussion also touches on Measure 112 on the upcoming Ballot, which could potentially transform the criminal justice system by making all work in prisons voluntary. Learn more.
Schlapp and Wilson assembled the storytelling group Ground Beneath Us at Oregon State Penitentiary in May 2019. For the past three years, they have mentored men in writing about life inside, using questions posed by middle and high school students as a springboard. Prison life requires a person to do difficult personal work and redefine oneself. This writing is testimony to that work. The result is a rich anthology filled with poetry, essays, and memoir that together present a picture of life at OSP and an exploration of the internal struggle to atone, find peace, and create community. Prisons Have a Long Memory will be presented thanks to support from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, Oregon Humanities, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
This program is co-sponsored by the Oregon Justice Resource Center.