How do prisoners keep in touch with their families when they’re inside? How do families cope on the outside, and who helps them? How easy is it for released prisoners to acclimatise to life on the outside?

Our panellists, Josie Bevan (author of Prisonbag, a blog about her family’s experience of prison), Mark Proctor (CEO of Ormiston Charities), Morwenna Bennelick (Prisoners Education Trust) and Hamish McLellan, will provide a fascinating insight into the impact of imprisonment on families. Professor Nigel South, from Centre for Criminology at the University of Essex, will chair the panel.

CRIME & PUNISHMENT SYMPOSIUM
FRIDAY 9 MARCH

This event is part of Essex Book Festival’s Crime & Punishment Symposium, taking place at the University of Essex. The symposium is a collaboration between Essex Book Festival, the Department of Literature, Theatre, and Film Studies (LiFTS) and the Centre for Criminology.

Over the last three years Essex Book Festival, Essex Libraries, University of Essex and English PEN have collaborated on a series of creative writing workshops, Writing on the Inside, for prisoners in HMP/YOI Chelmsford. It was a hugely valuable experience for all concerned. We are hosting a Crime and Punishment Symposium to share this experience with a wider audience, and to debate a variety of issues and challenges for offenders and their families.

Full Programme:

1.30 -2.30pm
Opening the Archives: Margery Allingham
Free, booking essential

2.45 – 4.00pm: Panel 1
Writing on the Inside
Free, booking essential

4.15 – 5.30pm: Panel 2
Transitions and Integrations: Inside and ‘the Out’
Free, booking essential

7.30pm: Author Talk
Erwin James: Redeemable – A Memoir of Darkness and Hope
£7 / £5 (27yrs and under)