Spoon Jackson

Spoon Jacksons namn är starkt förknippat med hans kulturella aktiviteter innanför tjocka fängelsemurar i Kalifornien. Han har suttit inspärrad i snart 50 år så han har hunnit utveckla ett alldeles eget förhållningssätt till samhället och livet utanför fängelset – och i sitt eget inre. Man kan fråga sig: Hur hitta en möjlig väg tillbaka till samhället och ett värdigt liv? Den livstidsdömde Spoon Jackson gör just det när han utbrister: Jag är inte lycklig och jag kommer aldrig att bli lycklig, i fängelset En dag kommer jag att släppas fri, en dag, till ett vackert verkligt liv – eller till en vacker verklig död. Hursomhelst har jag hittat min plats i tillvaron, vilket är något som inte ens döden kan ta ifrån mig. Han verkar fullt medveten om den ödesdigra gärning han begått, men är även helt övertygad om konstens och skapandets positiva motkrafter. Spoon Jackson (f. 22 augusti 1957) har på grund av ett allvarligt brott i ungdomen suttit bakom lås och bom i snart femtio år. Väl i fängelset inledde han sin självrannsakan. Poesin fick han, mycket tack vare Judith Tannenbaum, upp ögonen för i San Quentin State Prison. I boken By Heart, där Spoons mentor och nära vän, Judith Tannenbaum, är medförfattare och båda berättar de sina livshistorier. Spoon är aktivt verksam på olika sätt och genom skilda medier: Konsten, musiken och förstås skrivandet bidrar till att hålla glöden vid liv. På nätet förekommer han i Rabbits of Realness ( Verklighetens kaniner ) som publicerar brev och diverse nyheter runt skrivandet som en drivande kraft.

A two-person memoir that explores education, prison, possibility, and which children our world nurtures and which it shuns. At the books core are two stories that speak up for human imagination, spirit, and the power of art. "A boy with no one to listen becomes a man in prison for life and discovers his mind can be free. A woman enters prison to teach and becomes his first listener. And so begins a twenty-five year friendship between two gifted writers and poets. The result is By Heart a book that will anger you, give you hope, and break your heart." - Gloria Steinem Judith Tannenbaum and Spoon Jackson met at San Quentin State Prison in 1985. For over two decades they have conferred, corresponded and sometimes collaborated, producing very different bodies of work resting on the same understanding: that human beings have one foot in darkness, the other in light. In this beautifully crafted exploration, part memoir, part essay, Tannenbaum and Jackson consider art, education, prison, possibility, and which children our world nurtures and which it shuns. At the book's core are two stories that speak for human imagination, spirit, and expression. Judith Tannenbaum is a nationally respected educator, speaker, and author. Among her books are the memoir, Disguised as a Poem: My Years Teaching Poetry at San Quentin; two books for teachers: Teeth, Wiggly as Earthquakes: Writing Poetry in the Primary Grades and (with Valerie Chow Bush) Jump Write In! Creative Writing Exercises for Diverse Communities, Grades 6-12; and six poetry collections. She currently serves as training coordinator with WritersCorps in San Francisco. Born into a family of fifteen boys in Barstow, California, Spoon Jackson was sentenced to Life Without Possibility of Parole when he was twenty years old. Spoon discovered himself as a writer at San Quentin; played Pozzo in the prison's 1988 production of Waiting for Godot; and has written, published, and received awards for plays, poetry, novels, fairy tales, short stories, essays, and memoir during the more than thirty years he has been behind bars. His poems are collected in Longer Ago.

A two-person memoir that explores education, prison, possibility, and which children our world nurtures and which it shuns. At the books core are two stories that speak up for human imagination, spirit, and the power of art. "A boy with no one to listen becomes a man in prison for life and discovers his mind can be free. A woman enters prison to teach and becomes his first listener. And so begins a twenty-five year friendship between two gifted writers and poets. The result is By Heart a book that will anger you, give you hope, and break your heart." - Gloria Steinem Judith Tannenbaum and Spoon Jackson met at San Quentin State Prison in 1985. For over two decades they have conferred, corresponded and sometimes collaborated, producing very different bodies of work resting on the same understanding: that human beings have one foot in darkness, the other in light. In this beautifully crafted exploration, part memoir, part essay, Tannenbaum and Jackson consider art, education, prison, possibility, and which children our world nurtures and which it shuns. At the book's core are two stories that speak for human imagination, spirit, and expression. Judith Tannenbaum is a nationally respected educator, speaker, and author. Among her books are the memoir, Disguised as a Poem: My Years Teaching Poetry at San Quentin; two books for teachers: Teeth, Wiggly as Earthquakes: Writing Poetry in the Primary Grades and (with Valerie Chow Bush) Jump Write In! Creative Writing Exercises for Diverse Communities, Grades 6-12; and six poetry collections. She currently serves as training coordinator with WritersCorps in San Francisco. Born into a family of fifteen boys in Barstow, California, Spoon Jackson was sentenced to Life Without Possibility of Parole when he was twenty years old. Spoon discovered himself as a writer at San Quentin; played Pozzo in the prison's 1988 production of Waiting for Godot; and has written, published, and received awards for plays, poetry, novels, fairy tales, short stories, essays, and memoir during the more than thirty years he has been behind bars. His poems are collected in Longer Ago.