Dateline: September 3, 2022
Charles Patrick Norman
Lake Correctional Institution, Clermont, Florida
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On Wednesday, August 31, 2022, several members of the Creative Writing Workshop
presented some of their literary works to an audience of prison administrators
and inmates in the chapel sanctuary. To say it went well is an understatement:
no one went to confinement! Each writer received encouraging applause from the
tough audience.
In March, 2022, very little was going on at Lake C. I. besides some self-help
classes run by the wellness program director and religious programs in the
chapel. I went to the person in charge and offered to teach a creative writing
workshop at no cost to the state, if she would sponsor it. I told her I would
provide her with credentials of my experience if she wanted them. What she said
next surprised me.
“I've heard about you, Mr. Norman. I looked you up on the Internet. You're a
very accomplished writer."
She immediately approved my class with a starting date of April.
Through my indispensable wife, I contacted Caits Meissner, Director of the
Prison Writing Program of PEN America in New York City. The Prison Writing
Program, newly dubbed the "PEN America Prison and Justice Writing,"
formed in 1971, "…is among the largest and longest-running outlets of free
expression for the country's incarcerated population."
I first became aware of and involved with PEN in 1985, when a prison English
teacher, Vivian Barnard, submitted a poem I wrote, which, surprisingly to me,
won a national writing award. Thus began over 37 years of association with
PEN's membership of famous writers, poets, mentors and professors who saw
something in my literary works, encouraging me to push my limits. A flood of
poems, short stories, essays, blogs, and plays ensued, and my works were
published worldwide.
I used PEN's "Handbook For Writers in Prison," distributed free to
prisoners, for at least twenty years of writing classes. Untold numbers of
prison writers learned about poetry, short stories, nonfiction, memoirs and
drama from that little book.
Imagine my delight when Caits Meissner told me she was editing a new, expanded
writing manual, "THE SENTENCES THAT CREATE US--Crafting A Writer's Life in
Prison."
When the workshop was approved, I immediately asked Caits if PEN would donate
the new manuals. Yes. Prison officials approved the books and Libby's donation
of writing pads, pens and folders. The students were thrilled to receive the
materials. Work began.
One morning I saw a "free man," a citizen, erecting a tennis net on
the rec yard basketball court. Tennis was my thing for many years at Desoto C.
I., Avon Park, and Tomoka C.I., and I immediately introduced myself to Matt, a
former tennis pro from England, who was newly-certified as a prison volunteer.
He was sponsoring tennis, meditation, and soccer programs. Since I'd heard that
the wellness director would soon be leaving for a better job, I asked Matt if
he was interested in sponsoring our program, too. He was, but also wanted to be
a participant. Fine. He turned out to be an excellent student with many stories
to tell.
A workshop is different from a class. In a workshop we work together to help
each other, listening to the men's readings and offering feedback. Five months
is not enough time to cover all the information in the PEN manual, but everyone
praised the excellent instructions in different aspects of creative writing.
Our thanks and gratitude go out to Caits and all those contributors.
We lost some of our students to the inevitable prison transfer buses, but we
had enough to complete a two-hour presentation. One man read his memoir of a
family trip to Acapulco, events that continue to affect his life. Another wrote
a childhood memoir of growing up in Jacksonville over forty years ago, in a far
different time and place. Our sponsor, Matt, read a powerful statement about
what he'd learned as a prison volunteer. Another man told about growing up as a
poor farmer in the Dominican Republic before coming to America as a
professional baseball player.
I kept it simple, reciting three poems from “The Poem Tree.” I am including
"For a Few Hours," one about our visits, which are being threatened
by new, arbitrary rules designed to suppress family visits.
FOR A FEW HOURS
When you make the trek, the sacrifice,
to visit me in that prison,
Braving the barriers between us,
wending your way through the thorns,
Awaiting my arrival, your shining love
greeting me, embracing your warmth,
The spools of razorwire, the walls,
the fences containing us,
The concrete tables, the guards,
All melt away,
Disappear,
And we sail away,
Together,
Blue skies and deep seas
Before us,
Faint memories of dry land
Behind us,
Seabirds above us,
Leaping dolphins keeping pace
Alongside us,
Far away from the hate, deceit,
The angry suspicion and shame
of past and present,
Only the future awaiting us
In a world of our creation,
And God's,
For a few hours more.
After certificates of appreciation were passed out, the food arrived. Yes,
food, a special treat from Outback Steakhouse, furnished by our generous
sponsor. I can't remember how many decades it has been since I had a steak. Thank
you, Matt. No one from our group went to the chowhall Wednesday night.
Everyone agreed that they wanted to continue with the workshop, taking their
writing to a higher level. Lake C. I. is going through many changes, and it may
be difficult to find a classroom. Hopefully, the admin officials who came to
our presentation were impressed enough to find us suitable space for our next
phase. One unfinished goal is to publish "The Lake Journal," a
collection of prisoners' literary works.
Wish us luck.
Charlie
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