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Useful Resources : Websites for Poets and Writers : Writing for Social Change
Alabama Prison Arts & Education Project
Located at Auburn University, APAEP offers classes in the arts and humanities to inmates in Alabama state prisons. They have created a travelling exhibit of "Art on the Inside" and also publish an annual anthology of their students' work.
| | BuildingBloc Arts Collective
BuildingBloc is a California-based collective of artists dedicated to using art to explore social inequalities. They sponsor the Artist Pen-Pal Mutual Aid Project, which pairs incarcerated writers and artists with outside mentors to publish a magazine of their work, "Paper Thin Walls". BuildingBloc's website says, "Through experimentation, collaboration, and performance, we inform, provoke, and inspire ourselves and our audiences. We aim to spark dialogue, to create and sustain relationships between artists and community organizations, to support existing struggles for social justice, and to erase the boundaries between art and activism."
| | Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility
The "War Prevention" page of this activist group includes announcements of antiwar readings and lectures, plus remarks by Jane Collins, editor of 'For Love of a Soldier', and some of the military families who tell their stories in her book.
| | International Cities of Refuge Network
ICORN is an association of cities and regions around the world dedicated to protecting freedom of expression by offering refuge to writers fleeing political persecution.
| | Macondo Foundation
Based in San Antonio, TX, this literary foundation offers a writers' workshop, the Casa Azul writer-in-residence program, and multicultural arts events. In the words of founder Sandra Cisneros, "The Macondo Foundation works with dedicated and compassionate writers who view their work and talents as part of a larger task of community-building and non-violent social change. We are poets, novelists, journalists, performance artists, and creative writers of all genres whose work is socially-engaged. What unites us is a commitment to serve our under-served communities through our writing."
| | PEN Prison Writing Program: Recordings of 'Voices From Inside' Event 2009
The PEN American Center mentors incarcerated writers and publishes the best of their work in the annual Voices From Inside series. On this page, you can view video clips of notable writers such as Marie Ponsot and Patricia Smith reading prisoners' work at a November 2009 presentation in New York City.
| | Plain View Press
Founded in the 1970s, this independent small press in Austin, TX publishes poetry and literary prose. Editors say, "Our books result from artistic collaboration between writers, artists and editors. Over the years we have become a far-flung community of activists whose energies bring humanitarian enlightenment and hope to individuals and communities grappling with the major issues of our time: peace, justice, the environment, education and gender. This is a humane and highly creative group of people committed to art and social change." Query by email first, and wait for a response before sending the full manuscript. Email queries should include a link to a website that features a selection of your work and information about you, or a short selection of work pasted into the message (no attachments).
| | Poets for Living Waters
Poets for Living Waters is a poetry action in response to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico begun on April 20, 2010, one of the most profound human-made ecological catastrophes in history. See website for instructions for submitting your poems by email. Previously published work accepted.
| | Prisons Foundation
The Prisons Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes the arts and education in prison and alternatives to incarceration. Visit the gallery page of their website to view and purchase original work by incarcerated artists.
| | Sampsonia Way
Sampsonia Way is an online magazine sponsored by City of Asylum/Pittsburgh celebrating literary free expression and supporting persecuted poets and novelists worldwide. Each issue contains author interviews, critical essays, and excerpts from literature from many countries. Featured authors have included Toi Derricotte, Lynn Emmanuel, Horacio Castellanos Moya, and Nancy Krygowski.
| | St. Sebastian Review: A Queer Christian Literary Magazine
The St. Sebastian Review is an LGBTQ Christian literary magazine, founded to give voice to a community often disenfranchised and unheard. Editors say, "We exist as a forum within and from which LGBTQ Christians of any denomination can engage both critically and compassionately the culture in which they find themselves. We are purveyors of fine poetry, fiction, nonfiction essays, and visual art from among the LGBTQ Christian community and its allies."
| | The Choosing America Project
Award-winning writers and filmmakers Ricky and Lia Friesem are compiling authentic dramatic anecdotes (1,500-3,000 words) from immigrants who chose to live in America. They hope to turn some of these stories into short films that will be shown in the movies and broadcast on TV. "We are looking for those special moments, encounters, surprises, experiences, disappointments, which vividly convey what it's like to be an immigrant in America. The good, the bad, the sad, the miraculous, the joyful—every anecdote is welcome as long as it's authentic and well told." See submission guidelines on website.
| | The Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences
A project of the University of Massachusetts-Boston, the Joiner Center promotes research, curriculum development, public events, and educational, cultural, and humanitarian exchanges which foster greater understanding and innovative means of addressing the consequences of war. Their annual writers' workshop is taught by Iraq and Vietnam veterans and others whose works address issues of social justice, cultural, political, and community concern.
| | White Crane Journal
A publication of GayWisdom.com, White Crane Journal features creative writing and artwork that explores gay spirituality and culture. The magazine switched to an online format in 2010. From their mission statement: "White Crane (originally White Crane Newsletter) was created by Robert Barzan in the Summer of 1989. Barzan chose the name White Crane because in the ancient traditions of China and Japan, the white crane is a symbol of happiness and wholeness, suggesting high-flying aspiration and convention-defying independence. It is an appropriate symbol for the Gay spiritual quest."
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