The Sentences That Create Us on Alta Live

Caits Meissner joins Piper Kerman and David L. Ulin in a conversation hosted by Alta Journal

Caits Meissner, editor of The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison and Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, joined Alta Journal books editor David L. Ulin for a conversation about the latest collaborative work by PEN America. The book is a comprehensive resource writers can grow with, beginning with the foundations of creative writing. It serves as a road map for incarcerated people and their allies to have a thriving writing life behind bars — and shared beyond the walls — that draws on the unique insights of more than fifty contributors, most themselves justice-involved, to offer advice, inspiration and resources.

“This is a fantastic book on every level. I’m grateful to have it both as a writer and a teacher of writing…I will be using this book in the classroom from here on out.” -David L. Ulin

They discussed how the book came together, how it might work as a creative writing resource for anyone, the necessity and power of finding one’s voice, and writing as a radical, revolutionary act. In the following Q&A, Meissner and Kerman answered questions about teaching writing classes to incarcerated individuals with limited literary or intellectual skills, and encouraging women to see and write about themselves through a more powerful lens.

“Tapping into voice builds community through the walls, it gives access to creating relationships with family through the walls. I think what we’re really looking at with this project is how voice influences your writing and how it also makes you become a better person potentially.” -Caits Meissner

The book has been positively reviewed in Poets & Writers, Publisher’s Weekly, and Art Fuse, and has received coverage in the New York Times, The Globe and Mail, Bitch Media, Electric Literature, Literary Hub, and Truthout.

“The contents of this book are invaluable because most incarcerated people do not have access to an established writing program…The opportunity to participate in a writing workshop or class is phenomenal but very, very rare. But here’s incredibly pragmatic and really rich advice about incarcerated people forming their own writing workshop communities” -Piper Kerman