Placemakers: Prisoner Express

Come to the Durland Alternatives Library in beautiful Anabel Taylor Hall to learn about Prisoner Express, a program founded by Gary Fine more than 20 years ago to help break the isolation and despair of incarcerated people through writing, reading, and art.   

Through newsletters, book exchanges, and art and creative writing programs, Prisoner Express brings hope and fosters a sense of community among the more than 4,000 prisoners who participate. Meet Gary and some of the volunteers who help manage the creative writing programs offered by PE. If you wish, you can write a letter to a prisoner in response to one of their poems, stories, journals, or art.  

Prisoners have stories to tell. Often these stories are locked within them, as the culture in prison typically reinforces isolation and posturing. The relief prisoners experience from telling their stories -- and even more, the opening created by them reading each other’s stories in Prisoner Express publications -- has transformed the way they look at themselves and the prison experience.   

Several bus routes stop nearby, and free parking is available after 5 in the lot behind the building. The session is part of Story House Ithaca's "Placemakers" series featuring people and organizations using culture and art to build community.