Great sentences from the book Words is a Powerful Thing: Twenty Years of Teaching Creative Writing
at Douglas County Jail, by Brian Daldorph.
Brian Daldorph is a Senior Lecturer in English at KU. His book, published in 2021 by the University Press of Kansas, won a Notable Kansas Book Award. This is a compelling book, offering glimmers of solace to inmates through writing, but acknowledging the harsh realities of incarceration.
Daldorph taught a 2-hour writing class each week. He never knew who would show up. He didn’t know what crimes the inmates had committed. But he did know the jail held people who were charged with murder, aggravated assault, possession of opiates, and DUIs. Many have multiple charges, and many have been diagnosed with mental health problems.
He writes, “I look at hard-used faces, tattered and battered as one inmate wrote, even the young guys. A lot of tattoos, most of them homemade, and the sort of jaded look we most often see here – substance abuse is exhausting, as is being locked up.”
Inmates wrote poetry such as, “My name is methamphetamine but you can call me speed/I last much longer than cocaine and I’m so much better than weed.” “I breach this cell with every thought I think – imagination knows no cinder blocks.” “I watch as time slowly chews away on men’s sanity/where confusion reigns supreme.’
Daldorph wrote that after two decades of those classes, he wishes he could go back, start over, and hold each one of those classes again. He said that he enjoyed those classes more than any other of his teaching experiences.
A colleague of his echoed these sentiments. She said, “In writing, inmates begin to face up to
their troubles rather than succumbing to them, and show a resistance to their bleak existence and dehumanization, the mind-numbing routine, and feelings of worthlessness and loneliness.”
Another colleague wrote, “Out of this emotional intensity comes writing of an urgency I rarely see in the calmer waters of a university classroom.”
Inmates wrote, “Enough powered medication flows through me/2 feed a sick house of the ill.”
“I can still feel the prick, oh man, what a rush/like an ice-cold rushing river up my arm.” “I hit the streets and I was off and running/I tried to fight it but how could I/When I just kept wanting.”
A long-time staff member wrote, “I’m not sure that writing programs keep offenders from making bad choices when they return to the community. But learning to write opens an important door for many people who feel voiceless in the criminal justice system. And writing can contribute to self-awareness and insights about others. That is no small step in the direction along the path to a better life.”
at Douglas County Jail, by Brian Daldorph.
Brian Daldorph is a Senior Lecturer in English at KU. His book, published in 2021 by the University Press of Kansas, won a Notable Kansas Book Award. This is a compelling book, offering glimmers of solace to inmates through writing, but acknowledging the harsh realities of incarceration.
Daldorph taught a 2-hour writing class each week. He never knew who would show up. He didn’t know what crimes the inmates had committed. But he did know the jail held people who were charged with murder, aggravated assault, possession of opiates, and DUIs. Many have multiple charges, and many have been diagnosed with mental health problems.
He writes, “I look at hard-used faces, tattered and battered as one inmate wrote, even the young guys. A lot of tattoos, most of them homemade, and the sort of jaded look we most often see here – substance abuse is exhausting, as is being locked up.”
Inmates wrote poetry such as, “My name is methamphetamine but you can call me speed/I last much longer than cocaine and I’m so much better than weed.” “I breach this cell with every thought I think – imagination knows no cinder blocks.” “I watch as time slowly chews away on men’s sanity/where confusion reigns supreme.’
Daldorph wrote that after two decades of those classes, he wishes he could go back, start over, and hold each one of those classes again. He said that he enjoyed those classes more than any other of his teaching experiences.
A colleague of his echoed these sentiments. She said, “In writing, inmates begin to face up to
their troubles rather than succumbing to them, and show a resistance to their bleak existence and dehumanization, the mind-numbing routine, and feelings of worthlessness and loneliness.”
Another colleague wrote, “Out of this emotional intensity comes writing of an urgency I rarely see in the calmer waters of a university classroom.”
Inmates wrote, “Enough powered medication flows through me/2 feed a sick house of the ill.”
“I can still feel the prick, oh man, what a rush/like an ice-cold rushing river up my arm.” “I hit the streets and I was off and running/I tried to fight it but how could I/When I just kept wanting.”
A long-time staff member wrote, “I’m not sure that writing programs keep offenders from making bad choices when they return to the community. But learning to write opens an important door for many people who feel voiceless in the criminal justice system. And writing can contribute to self-awareness and insights about others. That is no small step in the direction along the path to a better life.”
Member Mike Durall, from Salina, shares this installment of "Great Sentences" with Kansas Authors Club members.
If you would like to subscribe to this series, please contact Mike Durall at [email protected]. You will have the option to opt out at any time.
Mike Durall grew up in Hays. He has written 12 books, three of which are about Kansas people, history, and culture. He currently writes columns for the Salina 311, Abilene 311, and McPherson 311 newspapers. The Kansas Reflector newspaper has published three of his essays. His podcast is titled Four Minute Stories from the Kansas Plains, available wherever you get podcasts. He spends a lot of time poking around museum archives in central Kansas.
If you would like to subscribe to this series, please contact Mike Durall at [email protected]. You will have the option to opt out at any time.
Mike Durall grew up in Hays. He has written 12 books, three of which are about Kansas people, history, and culture. He currently writes columns for the Salina 311, Abilene 311, and McPherson 311 newspapers. The Kansas Reflector newspaper has published three of his essays. His podcast is titled Four Minute Stories from the Kansas Plains, available wherever you get podcasts. He spends a lot of time poking around museum archives in central Kansas.
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