The Northwestern Prison Education Program, which provides incarcerated students with bachelor’s degrees through NU, celebrated and launched its magazine Wednesday evening in Kresge Hall.
The magazine, “Northwestern Insider,” publishes incarcerated students’ poetry, essays and artwork. Though the third and forthcoming edition is experiencing delays, SESP junior Megan Lin said it will be published this quarter, so the event adapted into a general celebration of the magazine, which is a creative outlet for students.
“Not all people know about it, even though the whole point of it is to have these voices of incarcerated students from inside the facilities to be heard,” said Lin, an event co-chair of the Undergraduate Prison Education Partnership Executive Board. “I thought it would be a good idea to really celebrate the existence of this magazine and its launch.”
The event featured posters of poems featured in the magazine, and video recordings of 12 incarcerated students reading their poems were set up to be shown. Lin said that around 25 attendees showed up, including “outside students” — NPEP students who are no longer incarcerated.
NPEP Program Coordinator Josias Escobedo said the magazine highlights both current students and graduates of the program. Some of the work relates to NPEP coursework, and other works are independent and creative, Escobedo said.
“Many of the Evanston undergraduates have different ways to share their voice because they’re on the Evanston campus — they have email and X,” Escobedo said. “Whereas the NPEP students, for a multitude of reasons, don’t have the same opportunities to share their voice. The Insider magazine is a way for them to do that.”
Prof. emerita Barbara Shwom said the upcoming third issue’s theme is “family.”
After publishing the first issue last year, themed around education, Shwom said the second issue was transformed when NPEP student Michael Broadway died.
“Coincidentally, we, in the issue that was almost ready to go, were highlighting a novel that he wrote,” Shwom said. “We had reviews of those novels, we had essays by him (and) a poem by him, and we moved all of that into a special ‘in memoriam’ issue.”
Shwom works weekly with a group of writers in Sheridan Correctional Center who contribute to the journal. She said she coedits with freelance writer Colin Hanner, who worked as a media relations writer at NPEP for one year.
Hanner said he has witnessed students become increasingly confident and motivated to contribute their pieces to the publication — something that deserved celebration at tonight’s event.
“To be able to hold an event that really showcases the work that these students are doing is just so important,” Hanner said. “I go into Sheridan pretty much every single week, and I’ve been to Logan a couple of times, and students are just always asking, ‘Who’s reading my pieces?’”
Hanner said the program is looking for new volunteers from the Evanston campus who are interested in anything from marketing to journalism to help spread the word.
Ultimately, Shwom said the journal reflects NPEP students’ own academic abilities and artistic expressions.
“There’s nothing that is better for self-esteem than being in an educational situation. It affects your sense of who you are,” Shwom said. “This magazine gives (the students) a voice. We are hoping that more of the Northwestern community will see it, and read it and engage with the students in some way.”
Email: [email protected]
X: @_melodyxu
Related Stories:
— Formerly incarcerated individuals and educators discuss prison education and reentry at NPEP panel
— Justice-Impacted Writers Project brings screenwriting to NPEP
— NPEP virtual panel addresses LGBTQ+ intersectionality in the criminal justice system
