| Description |
xiv, 222 pages ; 24 cm |
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text txt rdacontent |
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unmediated n rdamedia |
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volume nc rdacarrier |
| Series |
Kansas Notable Book; 2022.
|
| Awards |
Kansas Notable Book 2022 |
| Summary |
"Since 2001, poet and professor Brian Daldorph has taught a creative writing class at the Douglas County Jail in Lawrence, Kansas. During this time he has worked with thousands of inmates, helping them to find the words to express their struggles while also giving him a unique insight into the behemoth that is the American justice system. Daldorph has taught the class every Thursday now for nearly two decades, and over the years he has watched these talented persons channel their pain into poetry and so make the experience of incarceration just a bit more tolerable. A few of them, like Shane Crady and Antonio Sanchez-Day, leave the classroom knowing it might mean even more than that, as some of them have become published writers as a result of the work they did in Daldorph's class. Words Is a Powerful Thing is a work of bricolage-memoir, creative writing chapbook, literary analysis, journalism, pedagogical handbook, and more. The work invites readers to sit in the classroom, hear the students' poetry, and see these lives that too often remain invisible to society. By giving his students the opportunity to tell their stories, Daldorph demonstrates not only that writing and artistic expression can change lives, but also how much one can achieve in limited time in a small classroom at a county jail in Lawrence, Kansas"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references. |
| Contents |
"Imagination knows no cinder blocks" : Education Inside the Walls -- "what truly matters": Teaching Creative Writing at Douglas County Jail, Lawrence, Kansas -- "Sing Soft, Sing Loud" : The Literature of American Jails and Prisons -- Rules of the Class : No "Snitches," No "N-word" -- "Self -Expression, Self-Destruction" : Jail Class, May 18, 2017 -- "In this circle of ink and blood / we are for awile, brothers" : A Poem a Year -- Inmate Poetry 2001-2017 -- Douglas County Jail Blues, Volumes One and Two : "My name is methamphetamine, but you can call me speed / I last so much longer than cocaine, and I'm so much butter than weed ..." -- Johnny Cash's "Hurt" : "There is an automatic connection between ... inmates in class, and Mr. Cash" -- Mike Caron, Program Director, Douglas County Jail (2001-2015) : "Life is not fair. It is 1% what happens to you / and 99% how you decide to react to it" -- "It don't get more real than that" : " The Poetry of Antonio Sanchez-Day -- Sherry Gill, Programs Direcotr, Douglas County Jail (2015-) : "Mainly I just want to help people because no one helped me" -- "I done good and I done bad" : Topeka's Bad Man from the Badlands, Gary Holmes -- Mike Hartnett : "It really is a form of counseling, in a sense" -- Visitors : "It's just so much more than a poetry class" -- "don't carry much with me no more" : The Songs of Troubadour Joe Parrish -- Last Words (For Now) : "The creativity faucet is still on, and we are all drippin' wet in poetry!" -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Reflections from Former Inmates of Douglas County Jail. |
| Subject |
Daldorph, Brian, 1958-
|
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Creative writing -- Study and teaching -- Kansas -- Douglas County.
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Prisoners -- Education -- Kansas -- Douglas County.
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Prisoners' writings, American.
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Poets, American -- 20th century -- Biography.
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English teachers -- United States -- Biography.
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Daldorph, Brian, 1958- (OCoLC)fst00416452
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Creative writing -- Study and teaching. (OCoLC)fst00882503
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English teachers. (OCoLC)fst00912393
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Poets, American. (OCoLC)fst01067794
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Prisoners -- Education.
(OCoLC)fst01077127
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Prisoners' writings, American. (OCoLC)fst01077272
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Kansas -- Douglas County.
(OCoLC)fst01215492
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United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
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| Chronological Term |
1900-1999
|
| Genre/Form |
Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
|
| ISBN |
9780700632152 hardcover |
|
0700632158 hardcover |
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9780700632169 paperback |
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0700632166 paperback |
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9780700632176 electronic publication |
| Standard No. |
40030619073 |
|
