VOICES FROM INSIDE

Voices from Inside represents four ongoing creative writing workshops at the Hampden County Correctional Center, the Pre-Release Facility, the Western Massachusetts Correctional Alcohol Center and the Rachel Stockton Women’s Resource Center. These workshops are designed to serve women while inside the main facility, during the transition between incarceration and release, and after release into the community.

Each writing workshop is a safe and supportive place where women can come together and begin to express their voices without fear of criticism or negative consequences. Each two-hour workshop follows the technique established by Amherst Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI), which focuses on empowering women to discover and write in their own voices.

Women whose first language is not English can write in the language with which they feel most comfortable. Translation is available for members who choose to write in Spanish. Confidentiality is an important value in the group and all work is treated as fiction.

After ten weeks, a graduation ceremony is held for each group. The women receive certificates and read from a booklet of their work that is put together after each ten-week cycle.

The writing workshops are designed to enable participants to enjoy writing by creating a supportive and affirming environment that encourages self-expression.

The following organizations have helped to support Voices From Inside: The Davis Foundation, The Hampden County Correctional Center. Spectra Management Service Corporation, Gardiner Howland Shaw Foundation, Western New England College Dept for Social Work, The Women’s Fund of Western Mass.

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