Creative expression behind bars

Through running weekly writing workshops for incarcerated men in Parklea Correctional Centre, Jed has learned much about the difference it makes for an individual who has access to their potential for creativity. What impact does opening pathways to creative expression have for incarcerated people, and for the institutional culture of the prisons that hold them? What obstacles are there (social, philosophical, economic) to expanding arts education inside NSW Correctional Centres? What peculiar value does the arts hold in the lives of incarcerated men and women? And if the arts really do matter on the outside, what obligation do we owe men and women on the inside? Is it time we also considered how greatly this serves the communities to which they will return? Jed will share his fascinating insights into these questions, and their potential to guide approaches to improving personal and social outcomes for those with some of the greatest needs for the benefits creativity can offer.

Dr Jedidiah Evans is a Lecturer in English at the University of Sydney. He is also the associate editor of Paper Chained, a journal of creative expression for people behind bars. His research and practice revolve around the question of what the arts does inside carceral spaces.