The College of Idaho’s English department will host two presentations of visiting writers next week in the Cruzen-Murray Library, including the College of Southern Idaho’s Shane Brown at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 23 and current Idaho Writer in Residence Christian Winn at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25.
Brown is a theatre instructor at CSI who has also taught creative writing classes at the Idaho State Correctional Center since last August, giving its inmates the opportunity to express themselves and their unique experiences in writing. Inspired by their stories, Brown worked some of their writings into a script, including their poetry, short fiction and memoirs, to be presented by local actors in a program called “Sentences.”
“When I first heard about what Shane was doing, I told him that I would have loved to bring my students to the program,” said C of I English professor Diane Raptosh, who is currently teaching a course centered on American prison literature. “To my surprise, he said he would bring it to us.”
Brown said many of the inmates he has taught since he began volunteering have been serving long sentences for violent crimes, including individuals who have spent significant time in maximum security solitary confinement. He said the chance to write about their experiences gives them a positive creative outlet.
“They’ve just reached a point in their prison life where they want to do something,” he said. “They want their lives to be meaningful. Some of them have been really rough customers.”
Winn, Idaho’s Writer in Residence through 2019, currently teaches in the creative writing department at Boise State University, where he also received his MFA, and has also instructed creative writing courses as an adjunct professor at the C of I. He is the founder of the Writers Write fiction workshop series, which has been in operation since the summer of 2003. Winn will present some of his recent writings, including excerpts from his most recently released set of novelettes, “What’s Wrong with You is What’s Wrong with Me.”
Both presentations are free and open to the public and will be held in the Cruzen-Murray Library’s presentation room on the plaza level.
The College of Idaho has a 127-year-old legacy of excellence. The C of I is known for its outstanding academic programs, winning athletics tradition and history of producing successful graduates, including seven Rhodes Scholars, three governors and countless business leaders and innovators. Its distinctive PEAK Curriculum challenges students to attain competency in the four knowledge peaks of humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field—empowering them to earn a major and three minors in four years. The College’s close-knit, residential campus is located in Caldwell, where its proximity both to Boise and to the world-class outdoor activities of southwest Idaho’s mountains and rivers offers unique opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. For more information, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.