Announcing the First Volume of the UC Sentencing Project Zine

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The Center for the Study of Women|Barbra Streisand Center and University of California Sentencing Project (UCSP)  are proud to introduce FREEDOM COLLECTIVE: Poems from the UCSP Creative Writing Workshop, a powerful collection of poetry written by incarcerated women at CIW.

Supported by a $2 million Mellon Foundation grant, UCSP continues to amplify the voices of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals through interdisciplinary research, advocacy, and creative expression.

This inaugural volume of the UCSP Zine asks a profound and urgent question: What does it mean to freely express oneself while not being a free member of society?

For the women in the Spring 2024 Writing Group at CIW, poetry became more than just an art form—it was a means of survival, connection, and resistance. In their own words:

“To us, writing poetry means telling the whole truth that would be too ugly to speak: the blood and guts on the walls, not the beautiful mask you wear day to day. Poetry is the expression of our inner voices and can be expressed without judgment or criticism. To us, poetry is never wrong when it is from within one’s soul, heart, mind, or experiences. Poetry lets others see our true selves and is a vehicle to express the things we cannot find the words to say in plain English.”

Through this workshop, participants found a space of trust and creativity, where differences were set aside and raw emotions were shared without fear. They experimented with different poetic forms, pushed beyond structured styles, and allowed their words to flow freely—building a collective voice that is both vulnerable and defiant.

For many of these poets, writing is an act of liberation:

“As incarcerated poets, we often feel stifled or gagged, unable to say what we really think or feel without fear of repercussions. Poetry allows us to transcend that fear. We feel freedom. We feel free-spirited. We are on another planet when we are writing. Poetry gave us a voice to shout bravely into the wind or lament our pain into the void. It is ours, and through it, we are unconquerable.”

FREEDOM COLLECTIVE is not just a collection of poems; it is a testament to resilience, a declaration of selfhood, and a reminder that voices cannot be silenced. These poets are thinkers, dreamers, and truth-tellers, and their words deserve to be read, felt, and remembered.

Read the zine here: https://csw.ucla.edu/UCSP-Zine-Spring-2024-Digital/