Skip to main contentAccess keys help

[an error occurred while processing this directive]
BBC News
watch One-Minute World News
Last Updated: Friday, 21 May, 2004, 05:58 GMT 06:58 UK
Writer sought for prison term
Cardiff jail

If you want to write a new chapter in your life, there is a job going at Cardiff prison that will not need the hard cell.

The Writers in Prison Network (WIPN) is looking for someone to go behind bars.

The task is to develop the skills of the inmates, by putting on plays, starting a reading group or running a magazine.

It will be the network's first post in Wales although it already runs 14 residencies in England.

Lisette Saunders, head of residence and regimes at Cardiff prison, said they wanted the writer to get the artistic talents of the prisoners flowing.

The successful candidate would be additional to the education system in the prison, and would try to spark interest in developing inmates' creativity, she said.

It is different in prison - they will see things they haven't seen before
Pauline Bennett, WIPN

"A lot of them have had bad education experiences and we want them to see education in a different way," she said.

Pauline Bennett, secretary of the WIPN, based in Welshpool, mid Wales, said the aim was "to get people excited in writing and storytelling".

"The writers help everyone from an inmate who has never written before to one who has written a book, or even an officer who is putting in an application form," she said.

"I can't say how much it means to a prisoner's self-esteem to have a book or story they have helped create.

"They have been told so often that they are useless, so someone saying they can do something constructive is great."

The WIPN, which has running since 1998, is currently seeking funding for the Cardiff role from the Arts Council of Wales.

The post is being offered at �12,500 a year for two and a half days a week.

Challenging role

The writer, who can be a man or a woman, will be given keys to access to all parts of Cardiff prison, which will soon house up to 750 inmates.

"They go onto the wings, and have one-to-ones, and work across the spectrum of prisoners, even those on segregation," said Ms Bennett.

She added that their writers have been well-received by inmates across England, although she admitted it was a challenging environment to work in.

"The writers will have run writing clubs and other things in the community, but it is different in prison - they will see things they haven't seen before.

"But by the time they accept the job, they have had their interview in the prison, so if they don't like it, they don't take the job."

HMP Highpoint in Suffolk, HMYOI Werrington in Stoke-on-Trent, HMYOI Stoke Heath in Shropshire and HMYOI Rochester in Kent are also advertising for writers-in-residence.


SEE ALSO:
Inmates need more drugs help
02 Sep 03  |  Wales
Prison no bar to panto fun
14 Dec 02  |  England


RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites


PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

News Front Page | Africa | Americas | Asia-Pacific | Europe | Middle East | South Asia
UK | Business | Entertainment | Science/Nature | Technology | Health
Have Your Say | In Pictures | Week at a Glance | Country Profiles | In Depth | Programmes
AmericasAfricaEuropeMiddle EastSouth AsiaAsia Pacific