Author Chris Belden Works With Inmates—

Inmates’ ‘Sentences’ Come Through In Poetry And Prose

By Kendra Bobowick

He gets his best ideas in the shower, said writer and musician Chris Belden, who has been teaching creative writing to Garner Correctional Institution inmates since 2009.

He sang about love letters to a girl “who is never home.” He “wears his heart on his sleeve,” and “dreams of her everyday and can’t break away.”

Mr Belden entertained guests with his songs and readings on Sunday, October 2, at The Hideaway Café on South Main Street, from 3 to 5 pm, to benefit the publication of Sentences: A Book of Prose and Poetry Written by Inmates of the Garner Correctional Institution. A donation of $10 or more secured a copy of the anthology, in what was the only opportunity for the public to purchase a copy.

Available for purchase were several of Mr Belden’s music CDs and copies of Sentences. The 46-page booklet, which he published at his own expense, includes his introduction, which reads, “As a relatively pampered, upper-middle-class American who had never set foot in a prison, I approached the experience with trepidation.” Although he had taught writing in nontraditional settings including senior centers and soup kitchens, he had “never had to step through a metal detector to get to the classroom.”

His first impressions inside the institution included, “the serious faces of the corrections officers, the bland, dehumanizing uniforms the inmates are required to wear, and the general atmosphere of oppression.” During his first session with more than two dozen inmates who were serving as many as 999 years in prison, he realized, “I had made one of the best choices of my life.”

He thanks the institution administration for supporting his writing workshop, the officers, and others. He conveys thanks “most of all to the inmates who have courageously shared their work with me, earning my respect as both writers and men.”