Julieta Lionetti wrote in Publishing Perspectives that Ediciones Me Muero Muerta [I Die Dying Editions] will operate inside the Argentina prison system, giving female inmates the opportunity to publish their works of art, poetry, and short-stories. The editorial director for this publishing house is Liliana Cabrera, a poet, a long-term convict, and former prison librarian.
“La lectura produce personas completas, la conversación, personas dispuestas y la escritura, personas precisas.”
Cabrera wrote to the Federal Authorities, “asking for permission to develop a book club that would allow the convicts to get in touch with higher forms of writing and, more importantly, to share their reading experiences, enriching their understanding of themselves by comparing their attitudes toward the written word.”
That book club has since resulted in a publishing house, a magazine, and a website.
In 2005, researchers Karen Baikie and Kay Wilhelm found that expressive writing improves emotional and physical health in the long-term. Outcomes include improved moods, reduced blood pressure, improved working memory, and altered social behavior.
Should the US implement similar programs? Was your life somehow impacted or improved because of writing? Share below!
