Critical Storytelling from behind Invisible Bars
Undergraduates and Inmates Write Their Way Out
Published on 20. August 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
214 pages
978-90-04-44164-4 (ISBN)
Description
Critical stories are narratives that recount the writer's experiences, situating those experiences in broader cultural contexts. In this volume of Critical Storytelling, marginalized, excluded, and oppressed peoples share insights from their liminality to help readers learn from their perspectives on living from behind invisible bars. Female inmates at Decatur's Correctional Center and the undergraduate Millikin University students who worked with them come together to give voice to their specific histories of living from behind invisibile bars and pose important questions to the reader about inciting change for the future. Specifically, the voices in this volume seek to expose, analyze, and challenge deeply-entrenched narratives and characterizations of incarcerated women, whose histories are often marked by sexual abuse, domestic violence, poverty, PTSD, a lack of education, housing insecurity, mental illness, and substance addiction. These silenced female inmate voices need to be heard and contextualized within the larger metanarrative of prison literature. Through telling critical stories, these writers attempt to: sustain recovery from trauma, make positive changes and informed decisions, create a real sense of empowerment, strengthen their capacity to exercise personal agency, and inspire audiences to create change far outside the reaches of physical and metaphorical bars.
Contributors are: Anonymous, Soren Belle, Megan Batty, Dwight G. Brown, Jr., Sandra Brown, Kathryn Coffey, Kelly Cunningham, Paiten Hamilton, Kathlyn J. Housh, Rebekah Icenesse, Kala Keller, Jelisa Lovette, Bric Martin, Amanda Minetti, Laura Nearing, Angie Oaks, Claire Prendergast, Cara Quiett, J. M. Spence, Noah Villarreal and Alisha Walker.
Contributors are: Anonymous, Soren Belle, Megan Batty, Dwight G. Brown, Jr., Sandra Brown, Kathryn Coffey, Kelly Cunningham, Paiten Hamilton, Kathlyn J. Housh, Rebekah Icenesse, Kala Keller, Jelisa Lovette, Bric Martin, Amanda Minetti, Laura Nearing, Angie Oaks, Claire Prendergast, Cara Quiett, J. M. Spence, Noah Villarreal and Alisha Walker.
Reviews / Votes
"Critical Storytelling from behind Invisible Bars is a valuable read, giving female inmates a voice and reminding us of the human being behind a prisoner's number or statistic and demonstrating how everybody is confronted with visible or invisible bars." Lisa Krolak, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, in Learning Environments Research | Vol. 67 (2021), pp. 559-560.More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Leiden
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
318 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-04-44164-4 (9789004441644)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Carmella J. Braniger | Alex V. Miller | Kathryn A. Coffey
Critical Storytelling from behind Invisible Bars
Undergraduates and Inmates Write Their Way Out
Book
08/2020
Brill
€145.50
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Carmella J. Braniger, Ph.D. (2003), Oklahoma State University, is Associate Professor of English at Millikin University. She has published poems and critical stories, including a story in Critical Storytelling in Uncritical Times (Sense, 2017), for which she served as editor.
Kathryn Coffey is an undergraduate at Millikin University. She has had articles published on the Decaturian and BURST. She also has work published in Collage (Fall 2019).
Rebekah Icenesse is an English Writing undergraduate at Millikin University. She has had articles published in BURST, and the Decaturian, where she serves as an editor.
Alex V. Miller is a Professor at Millikin University where he teaches all levels of acting and stage combat, serves as Coordinator of Performance, Mainstage Director, Resident Fight Director, and is founder of and Executive Director for Shakespeare Corrected. Though his professional performance career has taken him from coast to coast, he currently lives on a small farm in Hammond, IL with his wife and two children.
Kathryn Coffey is an undergraduate at Millikin University. She has had articles published on the Decaturian and BURST. She also has work published in Collage (Fall 2019).
Rebekah Icenesse is an English Writing undergraduate at Millikin University. She has had articles published in BURST, and the Decaturian, where she serves as an editor.
Alex V. Miller is a Professor at Millikin University where he teaches all levels of acting and stage combat, serves as Coordinator of Performance, Mainstage Director, Resident Fight Director, and is founder of and Executive Director for Shakespeare Corrected. Though his professional performance career has taken him from coast to coast, he currently lives on a small farm in Hammond, IL with his wife and two children.
Content
Preface
Notes on Contributors
Prologue
?Alex V. Miller
1 A Prisoner's Melody
?Sandra Brown, Jelissa Lovette and Alisha Walker
2 Barcode
?Sandra Brown
3 Caged
?Jelissa Lovette
4 The Forbidden & the Prohibited
?Soren Belle
5 Truth or Dare
?Sandra Brown
6 The People I Met When the Sky Went Dark
?Bric Martin
7 The Great Wall of Insanity
?J. M. Spence
8 State of Mind
?Jelissa Lovette
9 The Call
?Sandra Brown
10 Pivotal Times
?Angie Oakes
11 A Daughter's Sorrow
?Sandra Brown
12 Talking It out from the Inside
?Cara Quiett
13 Mother-Less Child
?Jelissa Lovette
14 Not Waving, Not Drowning
?Sandra Brown
15 Isaac
?Claire Prendergast
16 Prison
?Angie Oaks
17 Love Find Me
?Jelissa Lovette
18 Little Girl Lost
?Angie Oakes
19 Everlasting Kiss
?Jelissa Lovette
20 Backburner Bitch
?Anonymous
21 Love Alive
?Kala Keller
22 My Dragonfly
?Laura Neering
23 Puzzle Pieces in My Eyes
?Rebekah M. Icenesse
24 Piece of Me
?Jelissa Lovette
25 Nothing New under the Sun
?Sandra Brown
26 Living a Life with Invisible Bars
?Kathlyn J. Housh
27 Where Would I Be
?Jelissa Lovette
28 My Odyssey
?Sandra Brown
29 What Makes Straight so Great?
?Dwight G. Brown, Jr.
30 Nature's Sanctuary
?Angie Oakes
31 Nature's Pride and Promise
?Cara Quiett
32 Finding Stability in Motion
?Megan Batty
33 Queen of Soul
?Jelisa Lovette
34 Melodies & Recipes
?Cara Quiett
35 Unanswered Questions
?Paiten Hamilton
36 Gregory's Gift
?Sandra Brown
37 Sentimental Syrup
?Cara Quiett
38 Perfection: A History of Me & My Multi-Colored Elephants
?Kathryn A. Coffey
39 Final Thoughts
?Sandra Brown
40 Stopping the Cycle: My Journey with Generational Body Image
?Kelly Cunningham
41 My Four Opportunities to Grow Up
?Noah Villarreal
42 My Last Bow
?Amanda Minetti
43 The Eulogy
?Sandra Brown
44 Yoga Me Free
?Cara Quiett
45 Metamorphosis
?Sandra Brown
Epilogue
?Carmella J. Braniger, Rebekah M. Icenesse, Kathryn A. Coffey and Alex V. Miller
Notes on Contributors
Prologue
?Alex V. Miller
1 A Prisoner's Melody
?Sandra Brown, Jelissa Lovette and Alisha Walker
2 Barcode
?Sandra Brown
3 Caged
?Jelissa Lovette
4 The Forbidden & the Prohibited
?Soren Belle
5 Truth or Dare
?Sandra Brown
6 The People I Met When the Sky Went Dark
?Bric Martin
7 The Great Wall of Insanity
?J. M. Spence
8 State of Mind
?Jelissa Lovette
9 The Call
?Sandra Brown
10 Pivotal Times
?Angie Oakes
11 A Daughter's Sorrow
?Sandra Brown
12 Talking It out from the Inside
?Cara Quiett
13 Mother-Less Child
?Jelissa Lovette
14 Not Waving, Not Drowning
?Sandra Brown
15 Isaac
?Claire Prendergast
16 Prison
?Angie Oaks
17 Love Find Me
?Jelissa Lovette
18 Little Girl Lost
?Angie Oakes
19 Everlasting Kiss
?Jelissa Lovette
20 Backburner Bitch
?Anonymous
21 Love Alive
?Kala Keller
22 My Dragonfly
?Laura Neering
23 Puzzle Pieces in My Eyes
?Rebekah M. Icenesse
24 Piece of Me
?Jelissa Lovette
25 Nothing New under the Sun
?Sandra Brown
26 Living a Life with Invisible Bars
?Kathlyn J. Housh
27 Where Would I Be
?Jelissa Lovette
28 My Odyssey
?Sandra Brown
29 What Makes Straight so Great?
?Dwight G. Brown, Jr.
30 Nature's Sanctuary
?Angie Oakes
31 Nature's Pride and Promise
?Cara Quiett
32 Finding Stability in Motion
?Megan Batty
33 Queen of Soul
?Jelisa Lovette
34 Melodies & Recipes
?Cara Quiett
35 Unanswered Questions
?Paiten Hamilton
36 Gregory's Gift
?Sandra Brown
37 Sentimental Syrup
?Cara Quiett
38 Perfection: A History of Me & My Multi-Colored Elephants
?Kathryn A. Coffey
39 Final Thoughts
?Sandra Brown
40 Stopping the Cycle: My Journey with Generational Body Image
?Kelly Cunningham
41 My Four Opportunities to Grow Up
?Noah Villarreal
42 My Last Bow
?Amanda Minetti
43 The Eulogy
?Sandra Brown
44 Yoga Me Free
?Cara Quiett
45 Metamorphosis
?Sandra Brown
Epilogue
?Carmella J. Braniger, Rebekah M. Icenesse, Kathryn A. Coffey and Alex V. Miller