Why Indiana Prison Writers Workshop is needed

HISTORY
Indiana Prison Writers Workshop (IPWW) was founded in September 2018 by Debra Des Vignes who taught a single creative writing class to ten men at Plainfield Correctional Facility. Since then, IPWW has grown into an organization with a team of twelve who use a single curriculum to lead writing workshops inside five Indiana state prisons; one community-based site for ex-offenders and three prisons in Alabama.

ABOUT
Our creative writing workshop offers an outlet for justice-involved individuals to write and express. The Workshop also reaches those who have experienced violence in their homes and communities to engage in self-reflective writing. Participants find confidence and courage to write from their hearts. The voiceless become empowered and, together, we find hope and healing through written words. We don’t wait for feelings and problems to fester – we write about them. Support is offered for alumni once released from prison including publishing opportunities in online journals and in print.

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