Reading and Writing in Prison
An interdisciplinary conference
Edinburgh Napier University, 4-5 June 2010
This conference aims to bring together scholars,
writers and practitioners to share their
perspectives on the significance of reading and writing in prisons.
Writing about imprisonment raises key issues
that go beyond an immediate concern with
incarceration and its institutions, involving
notions of subjectivity, citizenship and
nationhood. Scholars and practitioners alike
have long been arguing that opportunities for
reading and writing in prisons can become a
dignifying tool for prisoners to re-evaluate and
reconstruct their lives, with positive impact on
recidivism rates. The conference will act as a
platform for exchange about existing scholarship
and practice in the area, with the long-term
goal of facilitating future research networks,
publications and practical projects.
This event explicitly seeks conversations across
the disciplines and between ?theory? and
?practice?. Contributors are invited to address
reading, writing and imprisonment in any
geographical location, in both historical and
contemporary contexts. Some of the questions
this conference wishes to address are: what
defines the genre of prison literature or prison
autobiography and how has it changed
historically? How do institutional contexts and
penal policies impact on reading and writing in
prison? What effect do creative practice, prison
education and reading groups have on groups of
offenders and, conversely, society at large?
What is the role of researchers and universities
in contributing to debates around narratives of
imprisonment, reading and writing in prison?
Possible topics include:
? Prison literature and prison (auto)biography as a genre
? The history and publishing context of prison writing
? Representations of prison reading and writing experiences
? Gender, class, ethnicity/race and age
and their impact on reading and writing in prison
? Writing and political imprisonment
? Prison libraries and reading groups
? Creative writing in prisons: practice and problems
Invited speakers who have agreed to participate (subject to funding) include:
Ed Wiltse on student-prisoner reading groups and
the object(s) of literary studies; Gowan Calder
and Caspar Walsh on creative writing; Jenny
Hartley and Rosalind Crone on prison reading in
the nineteenth century; Sarah Turvey on prison
reading groups; Bashabi Fraser on the imprisoned writer and the nation.
Contributors should submit an abstract of their
proposed paper (250 words) and a brief
biographical statement to (a.schwan /at/ napier.ac.uk) by 1 March 2010.
For further information, please contact the organiser:
Dr Anne Schwan
School of Arts and Creative Industries
Edinburgh Napier University
Craighouse Campus, Craighouse Road
Edinburgh EH10 5LG, UK
Email: (a.schwan /at/ napier.ac.uk)
Phone: (0044) (0)131 455 6131
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