CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP PRESENTATION GOES WELL

 

Dateline: September 3, 2022

Charles Patrick Norman

Lake Correctional Institution, Clermont, Florida
__________________________________________________

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

prison funerals

 

July 7, 2022

A friend recently asked me how prisoners who died while incarcerated were handled; the following was my reply, which Libby thought was worthy of posting, as others may be interested:

A brief treatise on prison funerals.

The Florida Administrative Code, Chapter 33 Rules, FDC, regulate procedures concerning inmate deaths, notifications, and funerals. I haven't read the updated rules, since they don't particularly pertain to me, yet. Check the FDC website for corroboration.

From 1980--83 I lived in Bldg 7, C Area, of the Southwest Unit, 13 bldgs, air conditioned, your own key to your two-man cell door. Best living conditions in Florida prisons at the time. My cell window looked south, past the gun tower and the triple fences, across a large cow pasture, up a hill where the prison cemetery rested. Some people called it Boot Hill, after the movie Westerns. Others called it Gopher Ridge. Having never been there, I couldn't confirm the presence or absence of gophers.

My friend Roy died in a botched escape attempt. The chaplain notified his next-of-kin, his wife, in Tampa, asking if she wanted his body. She replied, "What am I supposed to do with it?"

The Starke Funeral Home had the state contract for prison deaths. Roy was taken there. They embalmed him, put him in a cheap pine box, and took him to Gopher Ridge. Several inmates with minimum custody on the outside grounds squad dug the grave. A chapel orderly, Nat Grimes, read some words from the Bible. The state auto tag plant made an aluminum tag with Roy's prison number only. No name. The tag was attached to a white cross. That was it.

Years later a new rule was posted, stating that unclaimed bodies could be cremated, saving the state money.

I suppose Gopher Ridge is still there.

Charlie Norman

CAN ONE BE A SUCCESS IN PRISON?

 

06-05-2022

Good morning. My name is Charlie Norman, and I am honored to have been asked to speak before this Gavel Club banquet on the subject of success. I hope together we can answer the question, can one be a success in prison?

When I was seventeen years old I went to church every Sunday. I was actively involved in our church youth group. We had several married couples who were our counselors, and one, Carol O'Neal, asked me to lead our fundraising activities for our upcoming summer projects. I organized Saturday car washes, spaghetti dinners, and door-to-door sales of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a very popular item. We raised so much money that we paid for our summer camp programs, our beach weekends, a big banquet, and left money for the younger group behind us.

Carol O'Neal jokingly said to me, "Charlie Norman, by the time you're twenty-one, you'll be either a millionaire or in Raiford."

For those who don't know, Raiford was the state prison, also known as The Rock and Union C. I.

Carol never knew how prophetic her words would be.

My life turned and twisted in different directions. For about a four-year period I lived the high life, wearing a gold Rolex, dressing in hand-stitched Italian silk suits, flying first class on jumbo jets to exotic locales, partying with fashion models, rock stars, and professional athletes, and making more illicit money than I ever imagined. By the standards of the crowd I ran with, I was a huge success. It wasn't to last.

Carol missed it by a few years. I was thirty years old the day that battered prison bus drove through the River Gate and dropped me off at Raiford, the state prison. By anyone's standard, with a fresh life sentence, I was a total failure.

A few years later my younger brother Danny brought his family, wife Sandy, children Timmy and Tammy, to visit.

Danny said to me, "Charles, I wish I were as smart as you."

I was flabbergasted. Sure, I had always made good grades, and earned a four-year academic scholarship to the University of South Florida, but I had to be pretty stupid to wind up in prison for life.

"Dan," I said, "What are you talking about? You have a wife and children who love you, a house, a good job, a dog and cat, a boat, two cars, you go to church on Sunday, you're free to travel anywhere you choose, and the only times you've been in a jail or prison was when you came to visit me. I have ten dollars in my pocket, and when I leave here later, I'll be locked in a cell. That doesn't sound very smart to me. You're ten times smarter than I am."

Success.

Can anyone tell me, what is the definition of success? Raise your hands, please.

The dictionary says that success is ---

<--The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors

<--The attainment of one's goals

<--The attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like

<--A performance or achievement that is marked by success, such as the attainment of honors. " The play was an instant success."

When researchers ask men and women what are their definitions of success, they get a wide range of answers that change over time.

Overall, women define success in terms of life balance and relationships. Men define success more in terms of material success. How much money do you make?

Think about what success means to you, in your life. What do you have to do to feel successful?

Let me share with you how regular people have defined success.

--"Accomplishing the goal of helping myself and others lead a better, happier, healthier life."

--"Achievement of goals that help others succeed."

--"Positive outcome after hard effort and useful experience."

--"Success is about perception. It can be a defeat, but if you think it is a good result you will be happy."

--"To me, success is felt and realized when our works achieve acclaim. A sense of satisfaction at the end of each day is success, too."

--"Success is the positive consequence of one's achievement."

Let me share more definitions of success from famous people:

--John Wooden, an acclaimed basketball coach, said, "Success is piece of mind that is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

"The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that do."

"If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time." Steve Jobs.

'I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure-- try to please everybody."

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." Albert Schweitzer.

"Fall down seven times. Stand up eight." Japanese proverb.

My favorite, by Ralph Waldo Emerson--

"To laugh often and much to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children to appreciate beauty to find the best in others to leave the world a little better, whether by a healthy child or a garden patch--to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is success."

What is the definition of success to you? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

What makes you the happiest?

What satisfies your core needs?

What do you value?

What types of accomplishments feel the most worthwhile to you?

Does your idea of success have multiple parts?

When I came to prison over forty years ago, several wise old prisoners saw something in me and took me under their wings, giving me valuable advice on surviving a life sentence. If you are going to survive and succeed in prison, they told me, you have to make a few big decisions, what kind of person you are going to be, that will eliminate a lot of little decisions in the future.

I decided I wanted to become a better person, to improve myself and help others. I renewed my faith in God, and attended Kairos. I joined Gavel Club.

 

I took every program available. I took college courses. I studied writing, and my poems, short stories, memoirs and essays were widely published. My plays were performed in New York City.

I wanted to become an artist, so I studied art for years.

My writing directly led me to my greatest accomplishment in prison. Twenty-two years ago I met, fell in love with, and eventually married my wife, Libby, a most extraordinary woman, my life partner. Together, we pray that one day soon we will continue our lives in free society.

You need to take your success and the skills you developed to achieve it, with you wherever you go, both inside and outside the fences.

The question remains-- can one succeed in prison? You have to want it.

By my own example, the answer is yes.

Thank you.

Charles Patrick Norman

June 6, 2022

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS CHANGE

 

The FDOC, in its wisdom, has made a deal with the JPAY company to digitize all Florida prisoners' U.S. Postal Service mail. We will not receive any original letters or cards from the "outside." Instead, JPAY will scan all our mail, and send it to our tablets, effective May 9, 2022. If you choose to send me a letter, please use the following format. Thanks. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Norman, Charles #881834
P. O. Box 23608
Tampa, FL 33623

Best wishes to you and yours...

Charlie