Seen & Heard

100 Poems by Parents & Children Affected by Imprisonment

Baldwin, Lucy, Raikes, Ben, Baldwin, Lucy, Raikes, Ben

• Publisher: Waterside Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781910979730
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Poetry
• Index: Literature

A collection of poems and drawings by parents and children affected by imprisonment in the UK and abroad. The poems and images are all original and from open competitions begun in 2018. They address the thoughts, feelings and beliefs of the authors as they express themselves concerning their emotions and experiences. Over a million children and family members are affected by imprisonment in the UK alone and the poems seek to emphasise the sense of loss, deprivation and isolation involved. They also show resilience—and how enforced separation impacts each and every day of the writer's life.Extract from Mark's 'And I Need My Dad'You are not hereLike my friend's dadTo build rocket-shipsAnd kick a football…You are not hereBecause you are there: Inside doing time, And I need my dad.Backed by prison and prisoner interest groups and children's charities. Contains wholly original material and insights. Linked to public events and initiatives. To be used in education and training.

Seen & Heard

100 Poems by Parents & Children Affected by Imprisonment

Edited by Lucy Baldwin & Ben Raikes

Copyright and publication details

Seen & Heard

100 Poems by Parents & Children Affected by Imprisonment

Edited by Lucy Baldwin & Ben Raikes

ISBN 978-1-909976-42-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-910979-73-0 (Epub ebook)

ISBN 978-1-910979-74-7 (Adobe ebook)

Copyright © 2019 This work is the copyright of the editors Lucy Baldwin and Ben Raikes. All intellectual property and associated rights are hereby asserted and reserved by them in full compliance with UK, European and international law. No part of this book may be copied, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, including in hard copy or via the internet, without the prior written permission of the publishers to whom all such rights have been assigned worldwide.

Cover design © 2019 Waterside Press by www.gibgob.com

Printed in Poland by Bookpress.eu

Main UK distributor Gardners Books, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QH. Tel: [phone]; [email protected]; www.gardners.com

North American distribution Ingram Book Company, One Ingram Blvd, La Vergne, TN 37086, USA. Tel: [phone]; [email protected]

Cataloguing-In-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.

Ebook Seen & Heard is available as an ebook and also to subscribers of Ebrary, Ebsco, Myilibrary and Dawsonera.

Published by

Waterside Press Ltd.

Sherfield Gables, Sherfield on Loddon,
Hook, Hampshire, RG27 0JG.

Online catalogue WatersidePress.co.uk

Table of Contents

About the editors iv

The author of the Foreword iv

Acknowledgements vii

Dedication ix

Foreword by Diane Curry OBE xi

Introduction xv

1. Poems Written by Mums In or After Prison 19
2. Poems Written by Children Who Have or Have Had a Parent in Prison 57
3. Poems Written by Dads In and After Prison 115
4. Group Poems 141

Some Useful Resources for Families Affected by Imprisonment 159

About the editors

Lucy Baldwin is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at De Montfort University Leicester. She is also a qualified Social Worker and Probation Officer having practised in her native North East. She convened the Women Family Crime and Justice Research Network at De Montfort and is the author of Mothering Justice: Working with Mothers in Criminal Justice Settings (Waterside Press, 2015). She specialises in research surrounding mothering in and after prison and families affected by imprisonment.

Ben Raikes is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Huddersfield University. He also works at the Centre for Applied Childhood, Youth and Family Research. Ben has experience as a social worker and probation officer. He runs writing groups in prisons and is a co-founder of the International Coalition for Children with Incarcerated Parents (INCCIP).

The author of the Foreword

Diane Curry OBE is the CEO of charity Partners of Prisoners and Families Support Group (POPS). She has vast experience of working within the voluntary sector and criminal justice system and is a qualified social worker. Diane received her OBE in 2006 for her pioneering work in this field including setting-up what became the Coalition for Racial Justice.

Libbie, aged 13.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost we would like to thank Lady Edwina Grosvenor for sponsoring us and then Waterside Press for turning this beautiful collection into a reality in print and virtual editions. Next and so very importantly our poetry contributors. They came from all over the UK (from many of our prisons, male and female), from Canada, Uganda, Washington and Ireland. We read, appreciated and are grateful for every single entry even though not all could be accommodated in these pages. We would especially like to thank those who facilitated the collection of our poems and worked with us the encourage contributors to send in their entries. In no particular order they are;

Sarah Burrows, Founder and Director of Children Heard and Seen (CHAS)

The CHAS team, namely Maria, James and Rod and of course the children and families

Dr Sinead O’Malley and the Mothers Project, Ireland (poems marked with an asterix)¹

Beverley Gilbert and CoHort 4

Dr Lorna Brooks from My Time

Charlotte Parsons of PACT at HMP Eastwood Park

Michaela Booth, Patient Engagement Lead (Health in Justice), Care UK Health Care

Vanessa Garrity and New Hall and Askham Grange Prisons and Mother and Baby Unit

Wells of Hope, Uganda

HMP Parc, Wales

USA Department of Corrections, Strength in Families program

California State Prison

Sandy Watson and Victoria Elsmore at HMP Oakwood

Anawim Women’s Centre, Birmingham

Inside Time prison newspaper, editorial and poetry team especially Dave Roberts

Hannah Shead and the team at Trevi House

Ashleigh House, Coolmine, Ireland

Sofia Buncy at Muslim Women in Prison

Kirsten Godfrey Restorative Justice project in San Francisco

It is not possible to list and give credit to every single individual who supported us including by repeating and re-tweeting our calls for submissions, but please know that without your help, and that of everyone already listed above, this book would not have been possible. We are grateful to and thank you all.

Last but most certainly not least, we would like to thank Bryan and Alex Gibson, for their endless patience, their willingness to take a chance on this book and their belief in our project.

Lucy & Ben

April 2019

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1. For information about the Mothers Project and access to her thesis please contact [email protected]

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the memory of all those who have lost their lives in prison and the children they left behind.

Luke, aged 12.

Foreword by Diane Curry OBE

I was delighted to be asked to write this foreword for this important book, important because it gives voice to those who often go unheard. Voices that are muffled or disguised in academic papers, policy documents or reports — whereas this book provides a rare opportunity for voices to he heard in their pure...