For most of the last three years, Tracy Schlapp and Danny Wilson have been working with a group of writers incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. Schlapp and Wilson’s writing program comes out of their nonprofit Bridgeworks Oregon, which is focused on art and music in prison.

Some of the writers in custody are serving long sentences, life sentences without the possibility of parole. Some have children -- and grandchildren -- they won’t likely ever see on the outside. More than 70,000 children in Oregon are impacted by incarceration.

The storytelling group is called Ground Beneath Us, and it uses prompts that come from school children’s questions - questions they may be too uncomfortable or afraid to ask an incarcerated family member directly.
Some of the men’s essays and poems are published in the new anthology called “Prisons Have a Long Memory.” Schlapp is the creative director of Bridgeworks Oregon. She edited the anthology with Wilson, and she joins us to tell us more about the program and the process.

Kyle Hedquist’s essays appear in the book, and he served on the editorial board. He now works as a lobbyist with the Oregon Justice Resource Center after being granted clemency by Governor Kate Brown last year. He also joins us to share about how he spent his time the 28 years he served, his writing and his commitment to creating community.