Basic Skills Bulletin

Issue 71 - March 2009

Throwing out LifeLines

Shaun knows he’s dyslexic – at 23 he’s young enough to have been “statemented” at school, but like many other children struggling to keep up, the help arrived to little too late. Shaun was already wagging school at 12, and between his own withdrawal and threats of exclusion from the school, it wasn’t until he pitched up in a young offender’s institution that his learning needs were assessed. Yes, he was diagnosed as dyslexic -again, something he already knew, and although he received support and learning in prison, the sentence was short, and he didn’t manage to read his way to the end of it.

Working as the Writer in Residence at HMP Manchester I get to see first hand the daily emergence into a world of literacy of men who thought they would never read for pleasure, never pen a poem, never ask for a dictionary, never hold a library card.  This year I’ve worked alongside tutors, uniformed staff and librarians who work together to make sure someone like Shaun has some choices. Time, attention, care, support, professionalism are the lifelines thrown out to prisoners and when they are caught by men like Shaun the outcomes can be literally life changing.

Poetry or Crime

I’m based in the prison Library, where tides of men arrive, sometimes eager and focused to use their 20 minutes amid the well stocked shelves, sometimes unsure of what a Library for, but keen for a change of scene from the wings and a chance to get out of their cells. The Librarians, Orderlies and Library Officer answer a battery of requests “Love Poetry? That shelf on the right. True Crime ? Over there. Starting up a Business? I can look for you. Archbold’s Criminal Pleading – Evidence and Practise? Reference only, but mark the pages and we’ll photocopy them for you. Daily Mirror? It’s out at the moment…” And then there’s less specific questions, by new readers, emerging readers, returning readers, unsure readers:
“I want something to read.” “Something to read?” “Yeah. Something to read.” But what?

Seven years on from Young Offenders, Shaun’s on remand, this time in an adult jail. He’s been working as a plasterer, supporting the two children he adores and is missing terribly. He knows he made a stupid choice and a big mistake that night. Now he’s with a group of men sitting an assessment test to gauge their literacy and numeracy skills. The room grows quiet as men of all different ages, nationalities, attitudes begin the unfamiliar task of choosing the right verb to fill a gap in a sentence. Shaun begins filling in his name, then he looks around at the others bent over the test. He looks over at the Advice and Guidance worker. She’s skilled, warm and funny, and she’s already explained that she’s here if anyone wants to talk anything through. He comes over with his paper, his first name written in a spidery hand. “Miss, I know I’m dyslexic. They told me at school. I have tried to do something about it, but I’ve been working and I’ve got two little kids. My daughter’s started school and she loves it, coming back with reading books. I want to be able to help her. I know I’ve got to do something about it and I might as well have a go while I’m in here”

The AIG worker sets out some choices – there’s the Toe by Toe programme, where trained prisoners offer peer support on the wings, there’s an intensive Skills for Life class with a great success rate and one to one help from volunteers, or there’s structured support in the workshops from Basic Skills tutors. Shaun chooses the Skills for Life class; he wants to learn now and he wants to learn fast. Good choice. He’s got to get something good out of this bad situation.

Something to Read

Our first LifeLines Writing Competition kicked off in 2006 and was publicised through Writers in Residence, Prison Education departments and Libraries. The competition remit was to write about “A life changing moment…. A choice you made…. Life as you know it…. Your own story.” in up to 300 words. It was designed to appeal to both new writers, who might struggle with a larger piece and to more experienced writers for whom the 300 word limit would be a challenge to try a new style of writing. Some writing was generated through creative writing sessions, some through one to one work, other entries came in independently. Tutors working in education, librarians and reader development workers also used the competition to encourage prisoners to get involved. The £100 first prize, £50 second and £25 third were also an incentive for prisoners – particularly in Young Offender Institutions, as was the chance of seeing their name in print - an incentive for all the writers.

I was amazed when the writing started to come in, first a trickle and then a flood. What was amazing was the range – with writing coming from young offenders, women, remand prisoners and lifers from prisons all over England. All the writers had kept to the brief of 300 words, some had managed to type out their work, most were hand written, some hard to read, most peppered with spelling mistakes and little punctuation, but an amazing array of poignant, hilarious, disturbing, thoughtful pieces. It was a pleasure to read through them and a privileged insight into the lives of prisoners: the dilemmas they had faced, the losses they had suffered, the hurt they had caused, the shortcomings of their family lives, the warmth of their relationships – it was all there. It was very difficult to shortlist just 6 for publication. The criteria for shortlisting was:  did the piece convey a sense of that person’s particular life? Would it strike a chord in a reader? Provoke reflection after the book was closed?

Winners not Losers

The general standard of the writing was so high we eventually made the decision to publish a further 30 pieces in the LifeLines Anthology.

The letters I received from the winning writers were lovely to read. All but one had never entered a writing competition before, and they were amazed and pleased their work had been selected. I travelled to each of the prisons to work with the winning writers and worked with each of them to edit their work with a reader in mind, so it read more fluently and strengthened the piece. It was also an opportunity for the writers to get involved in the publication process, discuss suggestions for illustrations, inform them about copyright and ownership of their work. It was great to come with good news, and meet the person behind the writing.

I was lucky to be able to collaborate with New Leaf who specialise in publishing books by and for new readers and writers who understood entirely the brief to develop the books into high quality and accessible resources for readers. New Leaf founder Anne Chester and I had both worked on developing publications at Gatehouse Books, including the popular CoolBooks series developed by and for prisoners. We agreed that a strong visual appeal was important for new and reluctant readers to feel like picking up an unknown book and having a go. We commissioned artists to provide strong and attractive images which would support the text. New Leaf accompany their books with audio CDs with 2 tracks, one with the book read at normal speed, the second a slow read to support readers encountering new vocabulary. We decided to make the CD format itself the way to target new and reluctant readers in prisons who may feel stigmatised by picking up specific basic skills books, but comfortable with giving a music CD another look. Inside the CD the text is line broken to make reading easier, but also resembles song lyrics, and give the books a more contemporary feel.

Our second series is now out, a further five Audio books and a new Anthology. Whilst the Anthology provides a journey for any reader through the collection of short, powerful pieces the audio books can be used in a variety of ways, either in the privacy of prisoners’ cells for enjoyment or self study, to support one to one mentoring, such as the “Toe by Toe” programme, or in the library using a computer CD drive.  We have commissioned a set of accompanying materials which will extend the books’ flexibility to form part of structured basic skills sessions, or support  listening, reading, discussion and writing activities. Some, but not all of the themes are prison specific: My Choice and Devil on my Shoulder have wider applications for discussions around drug use. Father First has been used in Parenting sessions and The Child is the Father of the Man, The Freedom Project and The Shorts are powerful starting points for discussions about family relationships.  Whatever their themes, these are true stories by real people. In the act of thinking about their lives, reflecting and writing, prisoners published through the project have articulated their strong, diverse voices, and in their own way thrown a lifeline out to others who might just be ready to grab it.

Amanda Wait
Writer in Residence HMP Manchester and LifeLines Co-ordinator