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Articles by Judith Tannenbaum
Introducing Verse Among Us: A National Poetry Writing Month Zine
Poetry, with its ability to distill complex emotions and experiences into evocative language, serves as an impactful medium for both personal expression and community engagement. For some, poetry provides a method of exploring and articulating innermost thoughts and feelings; for others, it allows them to connect to people despite physical boundaries of separation.
Announcing the 2024 PEN America/L’Engle Rahman Prize for Mentorship Honorees
Named for the late acclaimed author Madeleine L’Engle and her 10-year written friendship with scholar, writer and former Black Party leader Ahmad Rahman, the PEN America/L’Engle Rahman Prize for Mentorship honors four mentor/mentee pairs in PEN America’s longstanding prison writing mentorship program, which links established writers with those currently incarcerated.
PEN America Prison Writing Award Winners: 2024
Established in the aftermath of the Attica Prison Riots in the mid-1970s, the PEN Prison Writing Awards recognize the exceptional voices of incarcerated writers in the United States working within the genres of poetry, fiction, essay, memoir, and drama. With the help of the PEN America Prison Writing Committee, prizes of $300, $200, $150, and $75 are awarded for first place, second place, third place and honorable mentions in each genre.
Read these new books on justice and incarceration in the US.
Home Prison & Justice Writing Works of Justice The Book of Judith: Honoring Judith Tannenbaum (1947-2019) Two years ago, New Village Press published The Book of Judith: Opening Hearts Through Poetry, an anthology in remembrance of teaching artist Judith Tannenbaum, who dedicated her life to students in and out of prison. Tannenbaum’s career in education goes back to 1970, when she began teaching writing and literature in Berkeley, California.
Opinion: Reducing racial disparities in Contra Costa’s judicial system
Standing on street corners with bold signs and pointed slogans can feel good. But the work required to address our biggest social problems is often more mundane, bureaucratic, and much less sexy. So it is with the recommendations to reduce racial disparities in Contra Costa’s criminal justice system, recommendations that the county’s Racial Justice Task Force will present to the Board of Supervisors on Tueday morning.
My Word: Where are the candidates to oppose Contra Costa Sheriff Livingston?
Where is the sheriff Contra Costa County needs? Candidates have until March 9 to file for the June 5 election but, so far, only Sheriff David Livingston has signed up. A sheriff, of course, runs the county jail system and decides how that system will operate. A sheriff can create a system based on the awareness that criminal acts are often a consequence of the racial and economic inequities that shape every aspect of life — from health care to education to workplaces to housing to transportation.
Opinion: Imagine a better way than jail expansion
Imagine. On a recent Tuesday, my day began as the Board of Supervisors focused again on Sheriff David Livingston’s plans for the West County Detention Facility. My day ended in the El Cerrito City Council chambers. After more than two hours of public comments, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to commit $25 million of county money (and $5 million more annually) to support the sheriff’s proposal.
We are all artists, whether we know it or not
When California State Poet Laureate Dana Gioia performed at the El Cerrito Library in April, he reassured the large audience that, though President Donald Trump wanted to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts, the agency would survive. Gioia, himself head of the NEA from 2003 to 2009, reminded us that the agency funds projects in every congressional district in the country, making it a very popular program.
My Word: Contra Costa needs more services not more jail cells
One year, during the Great Recession, most San Francisco public schools couldn’t afford to offer summer school. The city’s Juvenile Justice Center, however, was mandated to provide schooling all year round. Therefore, that summer, if a San Francisco teenager wanted or needed to attend summer school, she had to get herself locked up in juvenile hall. Now we in West County face a similar situation.
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