Healing and Justice Celebration APRIL 19, 2008
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SAGEWRITERS FIRST ANNUAL BOOK COMPETITION FOR WRITERS IN PRISON
Open category: Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoirs, biography, autobiography, essays, political, inspirational, urban fiction, historical fiction
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GRAND PRIZE: Publication and distribution by Infinity Publishing with marketing and promotion by Sagewriters, which has published eight books so far of literary and social merit by people in prison. A $500 + value
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2nd Prize: An extensive critique of your work by Sagewriters staff and a complete set of Sagewriters’ books, a $300 value
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3rd Prize: A critique of your work and three Sagewriters’ books, a $200 value
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Five honorable mentions: A copy of Celling America’s Soul: Torture & Transformation in Our Prisons and Why We Should Care, by Sagewriters’ Director, Judith Trustone & seven prisoners. Plus a special gift
Preparing Your Entry:
- Your entry must be accompanied by an Entry Form and the $25 entry fee
- Your entry must be original, unpublished, written in English, and not accepted by another publisher at the time of submission. Infinity Publishing retains publication rights until the author releases Infinity from its legal obligations, as outlined in Infinity’s exclusive contract (available upon request.)
- Your entry must be typed or neatly written on one side of 8 x 10 white paper, lined or unlined. Poetry may be double-or-single-spaced; all other manuscripts must be double spaced. Your name, prison number and address must appear on the cover page—otherwise, your entry is disqualified.
Judging and Notification:
- Every entry will be read by the judges and judges’ decisions are final. The judges are well known writing and editing experts.
- Entries must be postmarked by September , 2008. We cannot return submitted manuscripts, so don’t send originals. However, to receive notification of the receipt of your manuscript, send a self-addressed, stamped postcard or envelope along with your entry.
The following prisoners are not permitted to enter the contest: Immediate family members of Sagewriters’ or Infinity’s staff or volunteers. Top Award Winners will be notified by mail before December 25, 2008 with publication in 2009.
(CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD Entry Form)
Mail completed Entry Form and Fee to:
Sagewriters’ Annual Book Competition
Box 215
Swarthmore, PA 19081
info@Sagewriters.org
610-328-6101
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Healing Justice on Internet Radio
with JUDITH TRUSTONE ON WWW.GTOWNRADIO.COM - SATURDAYS AT NOON Judith Trustone hosts a weekly Internet radio show, “Healing Justice,” every Saturday at noon (EDT). An award-winning writer and artist, she is available as an expert source and workshop presenter for subjects of prisoner and social injustice on both sides of the bars. For more information or interview requests, contact: CONTACT: LinDee Rochelle, Penchant for Penning
PHONE: 858.292.5288 (CA)
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PENDLE HILL HOSTED CONCERT AND ART EXHIBIT TO BENEFIT SAGEWRITERS
November 2007, Pendle Hill, the Quaker retreat center in Wallingford, PA (pendlehill.org for directions) is hosting a concert and an art exhibit by juvenile lifer, Luis S. Gonzalez, to benefit Sagewriters (ww.Sagewriters.org), a Swarthmore-based national organization that publishes books of social and literary merit by prisoners, families, victims, advocates and progressive corrections professionals.
Gonzalez, when sent to prison for life in 1986 as a teenager, was told he had an IQ of 56. Now head of LACEO, Latin American Community Education Organization at Graterford prison, Gonzalez’s art has been shown at a number of venues in the Delaware Valley including the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He currently works in prison with the internationally-recognized Philadelphia Mural Arts Project and is studying for his Bachelor’s degree from Villanova University.
According to Victoria Donohoe, art critic, in an earlier review for the Philadelphia Inquirer, “My Story, the huge, four-paneled mural by self-taught painter, Luis Gonzalez, a Graterford inmate, possesses an expressive force that’s at once disquieting and powerful in its bold and blunt approach. This eloquent piece by Gonzalez, serving time for a 1986 murder, is certainly a show-stopper.” The concert features performances by international jazz legend, Byard Lancaster and acappella gospel recording artists, Men on a Mission, who are graduates of the Philadelphia-based Who So Ever Gospel Mission, a job-readiness program for former drug abusers and the homeless. According to Sagewriters’ Director, Judith Trustone, who will be describing her own journey into Shadow America as a creative writing teacher, this is an opportunity for the public to experience the brilliance behind bars, and to put a human face to prisoners, a group we tend to dehumanize and demonize, to see the humanity and caring possible by those behind bars. The event is intended to build a fund for publishing more books by prisoners in addition to the seven already produced by Sagewriters, which also serves as an advocacy group for human rights.
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