High Hope for the Freelance Writer                                                                     

      C. Hope Clark, Editor

 


 

 

Changing newsletter hosts?

Our newsletters are delivered via Aweber.com, a reliable, spam-free newsletter service. If you are considering a new newsletter host, please click above, and tell them Hope sent you.


VistaPrint is the supplier of FundsforWriters business cards and postcards. Very simple and inexpensive for quality products. Use this link to order and receive a discount offer.


Our new ebook release - Agent in Your Pocket   - 140+ agents and lots of agent-finding advice. PDF format

A new ebook release - Short Story Writer - 240+ paying markets for your shorts. and tons of writing advice - PDF format

 

 

Teaching Writing in Juvenile Detentions

by Mindy Hardwick

The teens in orange jumpsuits glare at me as I enter the locked
unit. The girls wear their hair pulled back with rubber bands,
and I cringe when I see the rubber bands. They are the same type
of rubber bands that I wrap around the pages of my manuscripts.
Personal hygiene and generic toiletries sit on the window ledge.
The unit smells like cleaning antiseptic and laundry detergent.
I chew hard on my gum and try not to inhale too deeply.

Twelve pairs of eyes glare at me.
Distrustful.
Angry.
Hostile.
The eyes dare me.
Taunt me.

"You can't work with me.
I am bad.
I am a criminal."

I ignore the taunting eyes and pull out my collection of poetry
books. The guard hands us paper and tiny pencils. Writing workshop
in juvenile detention begins.

Every Monday, I show up to the local juvenile detention facility
where I am cleared through security and onto the units. I spend
one hour with a group of boys and one hour with a group of girls.
During that hour, I ask the youth to write from the heart. "Write
your experience." We write about what makes us angry, what hurts
us, what confuses us, and what brings us joy. The youth are not
allowed to write about their crimes. Instead, they write about
childhoods filled with pain, abuse, and failure.

Each week there is resistance from the youth. And each week, I
ignore it. I've been running the workshop for two years. I know
the routine. I know the magic that will happen in the next hour,
and how the glares will turn to tears and smiles.

During the workshop, the youth spend a great deal of time searching
for ways out of writing.

"I don't spell good."

"Don't worry about the spelling," I say. "Just write your experience."

"I'm not a writer."

"You just have to tell your story," I say and try to hear beyond
the words to the heart.

The heart says, "I'm not worth anything."

"Don't care about me."

"It's too risky to put myself on paper."

"I will not be vulnerable."

As the hour passes, I read more poems and throw out more topics.
Write what are you afraid of, write about a toy you loved but no
longer have, write about someone you hurt, or someone who hurt you,
write about fathers, mothers, friends, sisters.

The teens write and then I stop them with ten minutes left for sharing.

We move around the circle and each youth shares one poem. Some
share more, some share one or two lines, but each one talks. Some
turn red as they read, others joke and laugh before reading, others
tell us how bad their poetry is before reading.

When everyone has shared, I collect the poems and keep them for
possible inclusion in an anthology funded by grants. "You did a
great job," I tell them.

"You coming back next week?" The youth ask.

"I'll be here," I say.

The youth watch me walk out. Sadness, pain, and longing are evident
on their faces. As I ride down the elevator and exit back out the
doors to freedom, I know that my most important work as a writer is
done in these two hours with the youth in juvenile detention. It is
where our voices find a place to be heard.

To learn more:

InsideOut
A non-profit program where writers teach youth in Los Angeles Central
Juvenile Hall. http://www.insideoutwriters.org/links.php?id=aboutus

Pongo Publishing
A non-profit group in Seattle Pongo publishes a regular anthology of
poems written by youth in prison. http://www.pongopublishing.org/

PEN Mentor a Prisoner Program
Writers are paired with prisoners and exchange letter correspondence
in a volunteer mentorship program. http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/152

Funding

Hobson Foundation
Offers a yearly Dream Grant. Applications are taken from September 1,
2007-November 30, 2007. http://www.hobsonfoundation.com/dreamgrant.html

James Paterson Page Turner Grants
Annual cash prizes awarded to individuals, companies, and
organizations who are spreading the excitement about reading and
writing. http://www.pattersonpageturner.org/

Target Arts and Education Community Grants
Provides grants to non-profits for work with the arts and education.
http://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-004090

BIO
Mindy is a published children's writer and educator. She facilitates
a writing workshop at Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett, WA.
You can learn more about her at www.mindyhardwick.com

 

 

 

 

 

The Shy Writer: An Introvert's Guide to Writing Success - trade paperback and ebook - ISBN 1-59113-583-4


Time to order your 2008 Bylines Calendar - only $13.95



Hope's Blog!

Not too long with a paying opportunity and a tiny smidge of news and opinion. One of the most concise and informative blogs for writers on the web. Voted one of Maria Schneider's 20/20 Blogs in 2007! READ THE BLOG


Hope's Columns Elsewhere -


Your ad, book or service can be placed here. See our Ad Rates for both the web site and the newsletters.

Paying contests, grant calls, agents and publishers seeking submissions, writing jobs and markets listed in the newsletters and on web site for no charge. Send to Hope.


Copyright 2000-2008, C. Hope Clark and FundsforWriters - FFW does not warranty the information on this site. Contests, grants, markets, awards, fellowships, and other job opportunities cannot be guaranteed by FFW. Please use at your own risk just as you would any information in your writing career - with educated caution. We do not collect information for distribution. Email addresses are not shared with other sources. Direct any questions to Hope@fundsforwriters.com - or by snail mail to 140-A Amicks Ferry Road #4, Chapin, SC 29036