Teaching Writing Inside of a Jail: An Info Session With Golf Pencil Group

Join us online with Hugo House for an informational session about Golf Pencil Group (GPG), an organization that offers creative writing classes for people incarcerated at the King County Jail in downtown Seattle.

This free online event will feature teaching artists along with the current and former Directors of the program who will offer an overview of how GPG has grown as an organization, the impact they have made, and where they hope to go in the future. Attendees will gain insight into the group's work serving writers behind bars will hear stories about the transformational power of the pen (or rather, the golf pencil in this case.) Golf Pencil Group will also share opportunities on how people can become involved in this work, whether with GPG itself or with like-minded groups. A Q&A session will follow.

The evening will feature a moderated discussion, followed by an open Q&A session and networking opportunities, offering a welcoming space for writers, readers, and anyone passionate about storytelling to connect and exchange ideas.

Who Should Attend:

Members of the public interested in teaching writing, service to others, carceral education, and/or finding creativity in difficult places

Location:

Online — Zoom

Cost — Free

Hosted by:

Golf Pencil Group, with support from Hugo House

Time: 6-7 PM

Event Schedule:

·  6:00-6:15 PM: Golf Pencil Group Intro – Welcome, Who we are, What we do, and How

·  6:15-6:30 PM: Personal Stories from teachers

·  6:30-6:40 PM: Ways to get involved

·  6:40-7:00 PM: Q&A from the audience

·   7:00 PM: Event Concludes

Team Bios:

Kayla Blau (she/her) is a writer and facilitator. Her writing can be found in the South Seattle Emerald, The Stranger, The Seventh Wave, and Crosscut, among others. She loves nothing more than a hole-in-the-wall restaurant and a good book. 

Danielle Hayden is a multi-genre writer, teaching artist, and the current Director of Golf Pencil Group.

Jared Leising is a poet and the author the chapbook The Widows and Orphans of Winesburg, Ohio. He holds an MFA from the University of Houston and teaches English at Cascadia College and creative writing at the King County Jail with Golf Pencil Group.

Tasha Watson (they/she) is a queer, nerdy, neurodivergent writer, professor, and activist in the Seattle area. They love collaborative storytelling, poetry, live music, and the macabre.

Jay Aquinas Thompson (they/he) is a poet, essayist, and memoirist, as well as a teacher of creative writing to public school students and women surviving incarceration. They are also the author of the 2024 memoir is titled The Resurrection Appearances: Fragments of a Daybook.