The Sentences That Create Us: Shaka Senghor, Caits Meissner, Rachel Kushner

1370 N St Andrews Place,Los Angeles CA 90028

26 February, 2022

Description

An intimate conversation exploring writing's power in prison, and what those of us on the outside can learn from justice-involved writers. Join PEN America for an intimate conversation between Shaka Senghor and Caits Meissner as they explore writing's power in prison, and what those of us on the outside can learn from writers who have either experienced or are currently involved in America's injustice system. Moderated by award-winning novelist and essayist Rachel Kushner. While incarcerated, reading and writing helped Shaka Senghor understand his past and begin his transformation. His latest book, Letters to the Sons of Society, invites people on a journey of honesty and healing through a collection of beautifully written letters to Shaka’s sons, Jay and Sekou. The Sentences That Create Us, edited by Caits Meissner – PEN America's Director of Prison and Justice Writing – is an anthology of original essays from more than fifty contributors that provides a road map for incarcerated people and their allies to have a thriving writing life behind bars and shared beyond them. -- Rachel Kushner is the author of the internationally acclaimed novels THE MARS ROOM, THE FLAMETHROWERS, and TELEX FROM CUBA, as well as a book of short stories, THE STRANGE CASE OF RACHEL K. Her new book, THE HARD CROWD: ESSAYS 2000-2020 will be published in April 2021. She has won the Prix Médicis and been a finalist for the Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Folio Prize, the James Tait Black Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and was twice a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction. She is a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow and the recipient of the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her books have been translated into twenty-six languages. Caits Meissner is the director of Prison and Justice Writing at PEN America where she edited THE SENTENCES THAT CREATE US: CRAFTING A WRITER'S LIFE IN PRISON. She has taught, consulted, and co-created extensively for over 15 years across a wide spectrum of communities with a focus on prisons, public schools, and college classrooms at The New School and The City College of New York. In 2017, Meissner reenvisioned the concept of book tour for her illustrated poetry collection LET IT DIE HUNGRY, pairing public speaking engagements with opportunities to work with incarcerated writers across the United States. Shaka Senghor is a lecturer at universities, a leading voice on criminal justice reform, and the New York Times bestselling author of WRITING MY WRONGS: LIFE, DEATH, AND REDEMPTION IN AN AMERICAN PRISON. Senghor is a former MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, a former fellow in the inaugural class of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Community Leadership Network, and a member of Oprah's SuperSoul 100. In the decade since his release from prison, he has started and worked with nonprofits seeking to lift people up, visited the White House, been interviewed by Trevor Noah and Oprah Winfrey, given award-winning TED talks, and tirelessly worked to help create the personal and societal change we need for a more inspired, just, fulfilling future. His latest book IS LETTERS TO THE SONS OF SOCIETY.