S4 Ep. 14 | Tikkun Olam: Leaving the World Better Than You Found It
Teaching Artists on the Carceral System.
The long awaited final episode is here and for it I present to you the lovely minds that contributed to the recently released “That’s a Pretty Thing to Call It”. Learn from some of the writers as they reflect on their time spent with folks on the inside. To purchase “That’s a Pretty Thing to Call It” click here. All proceeds from the book will go to support Dances for Solidarity, a project that acts in correspondence with the more than 200 people incarcerated in solitary confinement through its chapters in New York and Denver.
Introducing The Speakers:
Erin Wiley - Erin Wiley is a poet, creative writer and workshop facilitator who studied Anthropology and Peace & Social Justice at the University of Michigan. She spent many years facilitating open format creative writing workshops at various Michigan prisons through the Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP), has worked in girls juvenile facilities and participated in theatre workshops at Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Today, Erin lives in a remote part of Southern Chile as an adventure travel specialist, planning outdoor adventures for folks who wish to visit Patagonia. You can find her on instagram @superboamagic.
Karla Robinson - Karla Robinson is a community based arts educator, conceptual artist, and poet, her multi-media work spans discipline and medium. Karla is the Poet in Residence at Sadie Nash Leadership Project and is a recipient of a Creatives Rebuild New York Artist Employment Program grant to start Document.Dream.Disrupt., a multi-generational, Bronx based boutique press dedicated to nurturing youth voices.
Leigh Sugar - Leigh Sugar is a writer, educator, and mutli-disciplinary artist. She holds an MFA in poetry from NYU and an MPA in Criminal Justice Policy from John Jay College. She has taught writing to previously incarcerated scholars at CUNY's Institute for Justice and Opportunity, and facilitated writing workshops at various prisons in Michigan through the Prison Creative Arts Project. She has also taught poetry at NYU, Poetry Foundation, Hugo House, Justice Arts Coalition, and more. Her debut poetry collection, FREELAND, is forthcoming from Alice James Books (2025), and she created and edited the anthology "That's a Pretty Thing to Call It: Prose and poetry by artists teaching in carceral institutions" (New Village Press, 2023). A disabled and chronically ill artist, Leigh lives in Michigan with her pup Elmo. You can find her at leighksugar.com or on Instagram @lekasugar.
Isaiah 41:10
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."