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Haiku Excerpts from Prison Wisdom
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When I think of love
I look at the twinkling stars
saying I’m still here
Justin

Tiny little hands
soft with strength and capable
to change this lost world
Loaisa

My life is a book
some chapters are sad, but there’s
a plot twist you’ll love
Melinda

 


Prison Wisdom

This book invites you behind the barbwire into the lives, stories and poems of 115 inmates. From 1991 to 2015 I entered the gates of four Florida prisons, offering creative writing to those behind bars, and created 12 anthologies which compiled their favorite writings from our sessions together. These anthologies have been excerpted in Prison Wisdom to showcase the beauty and diversity of the humanity hidden behind walls. The book also includes the correspondence and artwork of prison pen pals I have been writing to for many years.

 

Prison Wisdom reveals the methodology of how I evoke writing from my students, and the prompts and exercises are outlined so that anyone wishing to teach writing, in the prisons or elsewhere, has a template for doing so. As I explain on the back cover blurb: “I believe every person has a creative spark within them, and I hope to evoke ‘the wisdom of the pen’ in each and every one of my students. As you, the reader, experience the poignant and heartfelt writing in this unique collection, I hope you will be inspired to pick up a pen to tell your own stories.”

Testimonials


Prison is a world of steel bars, barbed wire, brick walls and locked doors. Once a week we are invited to open our minds and feel free to express ourselves… If only for a few hours a week, at least in our minds, we are free.

Woodrow


What did I get out of this class?  Expression, heart-felt, peace, liberty, the ability to exhale.  Openness. Freedom of speaking from the heart.  I was able to be free on the inside!

Celia


Thanks to all my students for sharing their stories and listening to mine.  We all grow, becoming transformed by each other’s openness and creativity.  What an inspiration and two-way mirror.

Katya

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When ordering a copy of Prison Wisdom, please consider helping our outreach by gifting a 2nd book that we will donate to a Prison Library or organization that works with inmates. Your help in spreading the inspirational message of this book is greatly appreciated.





To read a collection of recent reviews please scroll down.


Review, written in the reunion class at the Federal Correctional Institution/Tallahassee, after the women read aloud from the book:


"Reading, hearing, sharing these emotive pieces was profound. Individually each writer brings something truly unique to the book. Collectively, this is art. Inspiring, chilling, suspenseful, beautiful, full of memories and fantastic in its fictional aspects. This Prison Wisdom anthology is a journal, a manual, perfect prose of this side of society that one would do well not to deny. All of America is touched by the correctional system."

Victoria Running Hawk



This review was written by Harlan Richards, an inmate pen pal in Wisconsin. A poet in his own right, I sent him one of the “gift” copies of Prison Wisdom, and asked him for a response. I find this review to be quite poignant.


I recently read a book called Prison Wisdom, by Katya Sabaroff Taylor. It is a collection of essays and poems from creative writing classes she taught in prisons along with excerpts from her correspondence with pen pals in prison. Having been in prison quite a while myself, I was curious to read what her students had written in her classes. Each weekly class was given a series of prompts that all the participants wrote on together and shared aloud. Katya participated in all the writing prompts along with her students and she quotes both the inmates writing and her own.

As I read the responses, I was transported to a fairyland, an idyllic place that exists only in the hearts and minds of those authors. The stories showed me another way of being in the world, another viewpoint of what it all means. It opened my heart up to mystery, magic and imagination. There is a continuity of expression, perhaps because everyone was writing based on the same prompts. I prefer to believe it is because inside we are all the same. We have the same basic needs and desires, modified by our life experiences and personalities. Each story is unique and reveals the inner beauty of the writer. It was a joy to read each of the entries, to take a small break from reality and soar on the wings of their creations.

The section on prison pen pals was equally revealing but in a different way. Correspondence over a period of years enables the reader to see into the soul of the other person. What we won’t expose to public view in our day-to-day lives often flows freely in a letter to a friend. Katya shares her soul and the souls of her pen pals with us when she quotes from the letters she exchanged over the years.

This book demonstrates that no matter what we have done in the past, or where we currently are in our lives, we all have goodness inside of us waiting to be shared with others. I hope everyone has an opportunity to read this book and experience their own trip to another place.

Also, for those who are committed to making the world a better place, Katya includes a list of prompts and tips on how to start your own creative writing group. You don’t need to be in prison to benefit from getting together with a group of people and doing a little creative writing.



This review was written by a writer in the pen-pal section of Prison Wisdom.
By Leonard Andre Scovens


I was grinding out the final edit for Wildflowers in the Median with Agnes Furey, my co-author, when she told me to expect a letter from her writing teacher, Katya Taylor, who we’d asked to write the forward for what would become an award winning book enriched by her contribution.

She described Katya as a dynamic teacher who’d managed to help Agnes write her way through grieving the murders of her daughter and grandson. Katya would deliver Agnes’ Lifestories Class a writing prompt, then guide them through the excavation of their souls on paper. The result of Katya’s work with Agnes was deliverance from the devils of mourning that had deeply devoured her spirit.

Taking this approach to soul healing into prisons was a courageous move. Cats in prison are more apt to bear shanks than they are hearts. The iron and stone jungle has little respect for the art of healing. The Art of War by Sun Tzu has far more cache.

I imagine this inspired woman with a pen in her practiced hand (Katya has been a writer since she could hold a pen), calling the incarcerated into her circle with paper, spirit, and ink spilled on white leaves in search of the truth within them -- think of Baba Yaga, the wise woman of fire, guardian between the mundane world and that of the dead, a source of guidance for heroes who seek help for a quest.

There are few tests of mind and soul mettle more intense than the blank page. No stack of weights or lock on a sock-wielding madman can compare to the heart test of spilling your soul on the blank page. And here comes Katya, guiding prisoners into their interior to slay their dragons on that page.

It’s tough sometimes to recall your humanity while confined to a place that systematically deconstructs your humanity. Katya’s promptings, I could tell by reading her recently published anthology, Prison Wisdom, lent her students the tools they needed to slay that particular dragon. It was with compassion that she invites her students to take a step out of time and space and reconnect with the heroic alive in the center of every man and woman born into our elegant, chaotic world.

Consisting of sections featuring anthologies created in her prison Lifestories classes, letter excerpts from some of her pen pals and visual art, Prison Wisdom is a foray into the heart of prison activism. It exposes the glaring difference between public perceptions of incarcerated people and the true complexity of their myriad stories.

Sometimes a bad thing happens to disconnect one from the beauty inherent in being alive, human and spirit, and the resulting fall ends in jails, institutions, and premature death. Katya, with pen and open heart, stood sentinel between the mundane world and the land of shadows in those intimate circles she held to lead her students in a spirit dance with ink and paper.

You can see them whirling like dervishes on the page, discovering the universe and all its stars, earths and moons alive within the clay jars of their hearts. It’s there on the page.

Just at that moment
as I opened my third eye
spirit in disguise
Ana, Federal Correctional Institution

Crime is a muzzle. Criminals do not deserve a voice, the prisoner is told. We exhaust it when we break the social contract and do the bad thing that shoved us head first into the penitentiary. Katya counters that social narrative by helping us connect to the magic still alive in the world.

When life’s darkness surrounds you, the promptings guide students into an awareness that you can find your Excalibur (legendary sword of King Arthur). She’s taught prisoners in the darkness of American penitentiaries that they can reach within and withdraw a mysterious and wonderful gift: Art.



I met Joel Beauchemin after Prison Wisdom was already published, or his writing would be included. He was sent a copy in prison, and recently wrote this review:


Prison Wisdom is a brilliant and touching collection of stories and poetry that has grown on me since I first began reading it months ago. It provides an enlightening view of the morality of the socially branded "criminal" that reveals the humanity and love still intact and flourishing in an environment where such qualities are frowned upon. Introducing the reader to the other side of the fence through the inmate's eyes, a light is shone on the tragedy that is America's mass incarceration. Prison Wisdom shows the strength of the locked up individuals who bravely display their courage to dig deep within themselves, revealing the hidden talent we all have inside of us, to express through the magic of pen and paper. Beautifully compiled by Katya Taylor as an ultimate display of selflessness, it shows the reader that as books cannot be judged by their covers, a human being cannot be judged by the stereotype assigned to those behind bars.

(Note from Katya: I want to add that I do not consider my work writing with inmates to be "selfless. " While I may not be paid in coin, I receive a wonderful infusion of creativity from my fellow writers, as we open our hearts and share with one another.)



This review was originally printed as a blog on the Huffington Post. It has been slightly shortened for this website

The Wisdom Born Inside Prison Walls: By Jonah Raskin



Katya Sabaroff Taylor is a writing teacher who has brought her passion for words to hundreds of men and women locked up behind bars, especially in Florida, which she has adopted as her home state.

For years, Taylor has edited and put into print the essays, poems and the extraordinary art work of prisoners. Now, she’s published a book titled Prison Wisdom: Writing with Inmates that highlights their talents and their creativity.

One illustration in the book seems to sum up the feeling of the entire project. It shows two inmates locked up in a cell, with their arms extended beyond the bars. In their hands, they hold pencils and paper. They’re busy at work, seemingly oblivious of the walls that surround them.

Taylor has also included some of her own writing, hence the subtitle, “Writing with Inmates.” She doesn’t put herself above the inmates. She’s with them emotionally and spiritually, though at the end of the day she goes home to her own house and to her husband.

Prison Wisdom shows that human beings don’t have to lose their humanity when they’re placed behind bars, and that writing and drawing and then sharing one’s work with others is an effective way to stay centered, maintain links to the past and keep hopes and dreams alive.

These days, prisons don’t seem to do much in the way of rehabilitating prisoners. They prefer instead to lock them up in solitary confinement where they have very little contact with other prisoners and where their mental and physical health is challenged. That’s where Taylor literally comes into play and makes writing into an exercise in genuine rehabilitation.

Several hundred poems, stories, sketches and drawings by prisoners are showcased in Prison Wisdom: Writing with Inmates, a jam-packed volume from EWH Press and available on Amazon, that’s edited by Taylor with introductions and commentary that provides a context for the work.

“The art and practice of writing heightens self-awareness and offers a renewal of our life energies,” she writes on her website creativeartsandhealing.com.

The whole book is the collective project of dozens of people, including Frank Walls, who created the cover art, and the many prisoners who came out of their cells and their shells to express their dreams, hopes, fears and their appreciation of beauty.

Prison Wisdom can be used as a handbook for those who want to do what Katya Sabaroff Taylor has done for decades unselfishly, neither publicizing herself nor bragging about her experiences with convicted felons serving time.

She taught both men and women and in state as well as in federal prisons, and she did it with the cooperation of the authorities themselves who, she explains, gave her “permission to call my students by their first name…and they were allowed to call me ‘Katya,’ rather than ‘Mrs. Taylor.’” She adds, “This may seem like a small thing, but it created an intimacy that encouraged each of us to write—and share—from the heart.”

You won’t find Taylor written about in any of the current books, such as Terry Allen Kupers’ Solitary, about life in American prisons, though she’s one of many dedicated individuals who have gone behind bars with the belief that everyone has creativity and wisdom locked inside that’s just waiting to be liberated.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a flowering of prison literature in best selling books such as Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice (1968), George Jackson’s Soledad Brother (1970) and Tommy Trantino’s Lock the Lock (1973). Those books helped to spur a movement to improve conditions behind bars.

None of the writers represented in Prison Wisdom are as well known as O’Henry, Cleaver, Jackson, Trantino and Mumia, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of publication, distribution and introduction to the reading public. Prison Wisdom provides a glimpse into the hearts and minds of the kind of men and women behind prison walls who have not reached TV news or the Internet. In a way, the writers in the volume that Taylor has edited are a cross section of the American prison population in the U.S. today.

Indeed, as this book amply illustrates, there are no common ordinary prisoners; each one is distinct. Each one has a voice of his or her own. The editor herself has a distinct voice. In “I AM” Taylor writes, “I am the thunderbolt at the top of the mountain/I am the tune you can’t stop humming.”

In “Childhood Friend,” a prisoner named Pauline remembers a time “when race weighed more then friendship.” One wonders if and when friendship will ever weigh more than race.

Another prisoner, who’s named Rose, writes about her own self-denial and self-affirmation in “Sometimes I Forget.” Her work ends, “Sometimes I forget that within me lives a person that deserves love, compassion and just friends that truly love her to the end.”

Nearly every human emotion—sadness, grief, anger, love and more—is expressed in the poems, and while they don’t belong to the school of protest literature, they celebrate the compassion and the dignity of all prisoners held against their will and often under barbaric circumstances.

In “I Remember a Room,” a woman named “Mahlona” describes a moment at the end of her trial when a judge sentences her to 211 months in federal prison.” She immediately calculates how many years and days that adds up to. The reader can’t help but empathize with her.

Other prisoners resurrect their memories of time in the beauty of nature. A woman named “Angela” seems to sum up the feelings of her fellow prisoners when she says that while their bodies are locked up, “behind barb wire,” their minds are free to escape “bondage.”

Angela mentions the “dear teacher” who has “taken time out of her life to share her gift with us, shedding a little light in our dark world.” Comments like that one must have encouraged Taylor to go back into that dark world again and again.

At the end of the book, she includes some of her correspondence with prisoners, including a man named “Leonard” who looks back at his whole life and explains, “I was not raised to be a killer or drug addict or convict.”

That sentence could be the start of a whole memoir or a novel about a young man or woman who becomes everything he or she doesn’t want to become.

“I’ve been moving toward accomplishing something with my life,” Leonard writes. He adds, “Life is not linear. So there was no conversion experience for me where I suddenly became angelic and sinless.”

Reading the work in Prison Wisdom might provide ideas for writing, as well as the inspiration to sit down and do it.

Near the end of the book, Taylor offers useful comments that a beginning writing teacher might say to students on the very first day: “Everyone shares, everyone listens.”

Prison Wisdom reflects the author’s own wisdom born of a lifetime of giving and sharing.

Jonah Raskin is the author of For the Hell Of It: The Life and times of Abbie Hoffman, and A Terrible Beauty – The Wilderness of American Literature



This, and the letter to follow, were written to support my application for a grant offered by my alma mater, Antioch College.

Katya Taylor’s Reference Letter for “Winning Victories”



I met Katya Taylor at a local reentry meeting of community volunteers. Katya was invited to speak because of her extensive work with men and women in prison. Her book “Prison Wisdom” is a reflection of her commitment to working with the incarcerated. One only has to read the words written, in her book, by the men and women she taught, over the years, to know the impact she made in their lives. The writing comes from the very heart of suffering and joy experienced by those who are imprisoned. Ms. Taylor has also written “Journal Adventure Guidebook, A Life Stories Companion”, to help guide the writer as they journey through the experience of writing.

I was so impressed with Katya and her work I arranged for her to teach a seminar at the Wakulla Correctional Institution (WCI), Crawfordville, Florida. As a volunteer in prison I know how important it is for people from the community to offer their time and talents to those that are behind bars.

The seminar consisted of two, two-hour workshops. The men were so moved by the love, dedication, and knowledge Ms. Taylor shared. During the two classes the men wrote words that reflected thoughts and feelings they had never before shared. The looks on the faces of these men as Katya led them on a journey of empowerment was wonderful to witness. After each class she compiled a special “digest” of some of the workshop writings for each participant in the seminar to keep.

A few of the gifts Katya brings to her students are: the acceptance to be yourself, freedom to search for the true spirit of one’s self, and the joy of sharing who you are with others. There is so much more Ms. Taylor brings to the men and women in prison than what I have mentioned in this letter. Through her work in her book “Prison Wisdom” people can begin to understand that those in prison have beautiful minds and are really no different than anyone who lives ‘outside the fence’.

On a personal note I want to add that I had the privilege of sitting and writing in both workshops at WCI with Katya. This woman was able to get me past my fear of writing and I am a senior citizen. I am forever grateful to Katya and wish I had met her years ago.

E. (writer wishes to protect her identity)



This review was written by Misty McCray, one of the student writers in Prison Wisdom, as another reference letter for a “Winning Victories for Humanity” grant.



In 2011 I was in my sixth year of incarceration when I signed up for Katya Taylor’s Writing Life Stories class at FCI, Tallahassee, FL. My hope was to learn more about myself through writing. My expectations were not only met, but I’ve continued to use some of the writing techniques in my personal life as a healthy way to express myself.

Entering the room, I saw Katya for the first time. She radiated a spirit of love and acceptance. Katya has freely given her love to inmates for over 25 years now and it is felt when she is present. The room became a place of freedom within the prison walls; unlike any other. Each week we shared pieces of ourselves and blossomed together. We also created stronger bonds with one another outside the class.

As a former inmate, I understand how it feels to be locked behind bars without the ability to be heard. Feeling as though we are not worthy, valued or good enough to be loved. Incarceration is the punishment for crimes committed, but prisons should also be filled with opportunities to heal and recover. Katya’s creative writing class provided a safe place to express oneself in a not-so-safe environment.

A person may change his/her actions based on fear, but it is when we are loved, truly loved that we change. Through Katya’s methodology, the way she evoked creativity from each of us, we deepened our own understanding of ourselves. This is one of the best methods a person can utilize to discover and trust their authentic self. Being empowered in this way can lead to less recidivism, for those who return to the outside world.

I am honored to be one of the chosen writers in Prison Wisdom. I wish every inmate could have the opportunity that I had in Katya’s class. If Prison Wisdom were available in every prison library inmates would feel validated and inspired. If the book could be read by the general public I believe they would be able to relate and have compassion; understanding that we all experience joys and hurts. We are all human, living our lives to the best of our ability and experiencing the consequences along the way. I see Prison Wisdom as a bridge for humanity. An outlet for prisoners to be validated and find their freedom within. A wonderful contribution to “winning victories” for humanity.

Misty McCray

After her release, Misty also wrote for the pen pal section of the book.