Every year, more than 20,000 individuals are released from Ohio prisons.
Many programs exist to help former inmates transition back into mainstream society, everything from general education classes, to job training, to counseling.
Poetry is one tool that can help different populations deal with trauma, grief, and express feelings that have perhaps been long buried.
Recently on the “Sound of Ideas” we spoke to veterans who were engaging in writing workshops through Literary Cleveland.
On Monday's “Sound of Ideas,” we'll revisit our “Poetic Reentry” series, which was initially launched back in 2021.
That program looks at how writing poetry has helped formerly incarcerated men find their way to different lives. The men share some of the pieces they wrote while they were in prison, and talk about how it's influenced their lives on the outside.
Now, several years after the first installment of the series launched, we learn about how poetry and the creative process continue to shape one man’s life and activism. That man, Cardell Belfoure, is now telling the stories of other individuals who were incarcerated.
Later in this hour, we'll hear another conversation with best-selling author Brad Meltzer. He has a new book in his "Ordinary People Change the World" series which profiles the life of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
GUESTS:
- Justin Glanville, Deputy Editor of Engaged Journalism, Ideastream Public Media
- Cardell Belfoure, Poet and Storyteller, "Poetic Reentry"
- Wesley Robinson, Counselor and Storyteller, "Poetic Reentry"
