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自由的蜂鳥：加州男子監獄的真實故事，藝術讓人再次飛翔
「監獄裡的藝術老師」的深刻回憶，
看她如何與囚徒和平共處，以詩歌、戲劇與藝術突破生命瓶頸，
並一窺獄政官僚與監獄教化議題的詳實考察。
黛博拉・托博拉是一名藝術矯正師，四十五歲時，她重返故鄉聖路易斯奧比斯保（San Luis Obispo），在父親曾工作過的監獄開始一系列創意寫作與藝術矯正課程。當她在獄中帶領獄友進行戲劇創作時，許多血淚戲碼同時在她身邊上演。
加州男子監獄是一個彷彿時光凍結的世界，與外界聯繫仰賴的是老舊旋轉鍵盤式電話機；社會大眾普遍認為囚犯不值得接受藝術矯正教育，政府則想削減監獄預算；黛博拉・托博拉一面抵禦科層官僚體制的掣肘，一面用詩歌與戲劇鼓舞受刑犯，藉藝術幫助他們表達自我，走出黑暗世界，在帶領監獄課程、引導學生創作戲劇與詩歌期間，托博拉也讓自己的回憶一起走入鐵窗內，讓自己的人生行歷與囹圄中人的辛酸血淚彼此交織，展開一段溫暖又明亮的獄中旅程，沿途遍撒詩意與人性的輝光。
在文明社會裡，監獄與受刑人是被刻意遮掩起來的傷口。獄中人性的發揚，恰好體現了波斯神祕主義詩人魯米（Rumi）的詩句：「傷口是讓神聖的光源得以探入的地方。」
看她如何與囚徒和平共處，以詩歌、戲劇與藝術突破生命瓶頸，
並一窺獄政官僚與監獄教化議題的詳實考察。
黛博拉・托博拉是一名藝術矯正師，四十五歲時，她重返故鄉聖路易斯奧比斯保（San Luis Obispo），在父親曾工作過的監獄開始一系列創意寫作與藝術矯正課程。當她在獄中帶領獄友進行戲劇創作時，許多血淚戲碼同時在她身邊上演。
加州男子監獄是一個彷彿時光凍結的世界，與外界聯繫仰賴的是老舊旋轉鍵盤式電話機；社會大眾普遍認為囚犯不值得接受藝術矯正教育，政府則想削減監獄預算；黛博拉・托博拉一面抵禦科層官僚體制的掣肘，一面用詩歌與戲劇鼓舞受刑犯，藉藝術幫助他們表達自我，走出黑暗世界，在帶領監獄課程、引導學生創作戲劇與詩歌期間，托博拉也讓自己的回憶一起走入鐵窗內，讓自己的人生行歷與囹圄中人的辛酸血淚彼此交織，展開一段溫暖又明亮的獄中旅程，沿途遍撒詩意與人性的輝光。
在文明社會裡，監獄與受刑人是被刻意遮掩起來的傷口。獄中人性的發揚，恰好體現了波斯神祕主義詩人魯米（Rumi）的詩句：「傷口是讓神聖的光源得以探入的地方。」
- GenresMemoirNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 2019
About the author
Deborah Tobola
5 books2 followersDeborah Tobola is a poet, playwright, and coauthor of a children’s book. Her work has earned four Pushcart Prize nominations, three Academy of American Poets awards, and a Children’s Choice Book Award. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona in 1990 and has worked as a journalist, legislative aide, and adjunct English faculty member. After teaching creative writing in California prisons, she became the Institution Artist Facilitator at the California Men’s Colony. Her students won writing awards, published their work, and appeared on local and national radio.
Tobola retired at the end of 2008 to begin Poetic Justice Project, the country’s first theatre company for formerly incarcerated actors. She teaches creative writing and theatre at the California Men’s Colony and serves as artistic director of Poetic Justice Project. She likes reading, gardening, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
Tobola retired at the end of 2008 to begin Poetic Justice Project, the country’s first theatre company for formerly incarcerated actors. She teaches creative writing and theatre at the California Men’s Colony and serves as artistic director of Poetic Justice Project. She likes reading, gardening, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 14, 2019
Hummingbird in Underworld is a slim memoir about Deborah Tobola’s experiences teaching in a men’s prison.
Deborah begins this new job in her old hometown. Her father worked in the same prison. She’s teaching creative writing and managing the prison’s art program.
Deborah is forthright with what she finds and all she learns. The bureaucracy and politics of what should happen versus what actually happens in the prison are a constant battle. She writes about some of the men she meets in the prison. Their stories are endearing and powerful.
The book alternates between Tobola’s life story and her experience in the prison. I found Hummingbird in Underworld memorable, enlightening, and disarming. It’s not something we think about often- what daily life is like inside a prison. I’m grateful for Deborah’s insight and important work.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
Deborah begins this new job in her old hometown. Her father worked in the same prison. She’s teaching creative writing and managing the prison’s art program.
Deborah is forthright with what she finds and all she learns. The bureaucracy and politics of what should happen versus what actually happens in the prison are a constant battle. She writes about some of the men she meets in the prison. Their stories are endearing and powerful.
The book alternates between Tobola’s life story and her experience in the prison. I found Hummingbird in Underworld memorable, enlightening, and disarming. It’s not something we think about often- what daily life is like inside a prison. I’m grateful for Deborah’s insight and important work.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
July 8, 2020
Published in 2019, Hummingbird in Underworld by Deborah Tobola caught my attention with its clever title, implying something small and beautiful but strong would go to a dark place. Alternating between her vagabond family life when she was a girl in the 1950s and her tenure running the Arts in Corrections program in a California correctional facility from the 1990s to 2008, Tobola has what could be an engaging memoir. Yet Tobola’s book, with her snide, thoughtless comments, wore me down, causing me to DNF at 25%.
Comments like when her father and uncle were fighting, so her grandpa used his “lard belly” to separate them. Or how Tobola describes a co-worker in the Arts in Corrections program as “like Forrest Gump, landing in the right place at the right time of the counterculture — except she’s very smart.” What was the point of adding that last bit about Gump’s intelligence when the point is that her co-worker has frequently, accidentally met people who later became famous? I’m not into intelligence shaming.
After she’s hired, she will need to choose inmates to clerk for her, so she sifts through their files, deciding which has crimes the least offensive to her. Perhaps this is how it works in other correctional facilities, but when I taught in prison, the focus was the student, not their reason for incarceration. We never knew why someone was in prison unless the student personally told us. Keeping their records in the back of your mind is a distraction and dehumanizes the potential in front of you. These moments felt like an annoying gnat in my face, not as egregious as a potentially virus-carrying mosquito, but aggravating all the same.
As Bard Prison Initiative graduate Rodney Spivey-Jones writes, “Believing that incarcerated citizens constitute a separate and distinct population can give the country only a false sense of comfort and security.” By sorting through inmates’ crimes and judging them, Tobola acts as jury yet again, hoping to keep the “bad” ones away from her, resulting in missed educational and financial opportunities for those she’s condemned.
Even a clerk she does get annoys her because he’s enthusiastic about the computer skills he’s learned. Passionate about digital films, the inmate tells her Antz is his favorite computer-animated movie. Tobola has never heard of Antz, and the clerk is surprised. Her response? “Whatever, I want to say, but don’t.”
The author continues to stomp on toes. When an inmate from a minimum security wing escapes and is later caught at Target, she jokes to the students, “At least he wasn’t shopping at Wal-Mart.” So now she’s shaming people for shopping at a store that serves many communities, including those with lower income who seek out cheaper items.
At this point, the metaphorical gnat would not stop getting up in my face, and I was getting frustrated. What made me stop reading, though, was the introduction of Alejandro. Tobola believes he is a gifted poet, but her instruction is completely tone deaf:
If you’re wondering about the writing quality, Tobola rapidly explains what’s happened with students, showing instead of world building, which also made this memoir boring. Not recommended.
This review was originally published at Grab the Lapels.
Comments like when her father and uncle were fighting, so her grandpa used his “lard belly” to separate them. Or how Tobola describes a co-worker in the Arts in Corrections program as “like Forrest Gump, landing in the right place at the right time of the counterculture — except she’s very smart.” What was the point of adding that last bit about Gump’s intelligence when the point is that her co-worker has frequently, accidentally met people who later became famous? I’m not into intelligence shaming.
After she’s hired, she will need to choose inmates to clerk for her, so she sifts through their files, deciding which has crimes the least offensive to her. Perhaps this is how it works in other correctional facilities, but when I taught in prison, the focus was the student, not their reason for incarceration. We never knew why someone was in prison unless the student personally told us. Keeping their records in the back of your mind is a distraction and dehumanizes the potential in front of you. These moments felt like an annoying gnat in my face, not as egregious as a potentially virus-carrying mosquito, but aggravating all the same.
As Bard Prison Initiative graduate Rodney Spivey-Jones writes, “Believing that incarcerated citizens constitute a separate and distinct population can give the country only a false sense of comfort and security.” By sorting through inmates’ crimes and judging them, Tobola acts as jury yet again, hoping to keep the “bad” ones away from her, resulting in missed educational and financial opportunities for those she’s condemned.
Even a clerk she does get annoys her because he’s enthusiastic about the computer skills he’s learned. Passionate about digital films, the inmate tells her Antz is his favorite computer-animated movie. Tobola has never heard of Antz, and the clerk is surprised. Her response? “Whatever, I want to say, but don’t.”
The author continues to stomp on toes. When an inmate from a minimum security wing escapes and is later caught at Target, she jokes to the students, “At least he wasn’t shopping at Wal-Mart.” So now she’s shaming people for shopping at a store that serves many communities, including those with lower income who seek out cheaper items.
At this point, the metaphorical gnat would not stop getting up in my face, and I was getting frustrated. What made me stop reading, though, was the introduction of Alejandro. Tobola believes he is a gifted poet, but her instruction is completely tone deaf:
And I encourage him to write poems in his native tongue.At this point I’m done with Hummingbird in Underworld. Assuming a man with the name Alejandro must speak Spanish, along with her other microaggressions, suggests Tobola needs training on insensitive language — such as referring to Alejando as an “illegal immigrant” — and how to be anti-racist. She needed to learn how to be a good steward of the power she held over students, or at least reflect in her new memoir on her perception at the time and how it could have been more inclusive were she teaching in the same program today.
“I don’t know Spanish,” he says, “just a little Spanglish.”
“Well, Spanglish then,” I reply.
If you’re wondering about the writing quality, Tobola rapidly explains what’s happened with students, showing instead of world building, which also made this memoir boring. Not recommended.
This review was originally published at Grab the Lapels.
January 15, 2020
Consider the title. Now consider the content- teaching creative arts to prisoners in a men's prison. Contradictory? Get ready. Deborah Tobola will provide you with enough evidence and moving personal accounts both from her and from her students, you will believe hummingbirds fly wherever they wish.
A deeply needed look at the US jail system and how grossly unfair the "justice system" is takes place just under the surface of Tobola's carefully constructed prose.
Read this book. You will be educated.
A deeply needed look at the US jail system and how grossly unfair the "justice system" is takes place just under the surface of Tobola's carefully constructed prose.
Read this book. You will be educated.
June 16, 2019
I found the author's personal life to be far more interesting than her stories about working in a prison. I maintained hope that the prison side of her life would take off in the book, or "go somewhere," but it plodded along with no real tension or arc to the story.. Her personal life was what interested me.
May 17, 2026
I read the synopsis of this book and was immediately checking it out from the library after I read this snippet: “… she’s there to teach creative writing and manage the prison's arts program—a dream job.” What? A woman who describes teaching in the California prison system to be a dream job? What made her gravitate towards a career I wouldn’t have ever considered? Her subject matter was intriguing to me. At the same time I was also concerned the story might be too dark for me and filled with unappealing information. She was actually very upbeat in her writing.
Tobola writes her personal story in a descriptive tone at a quick pace where she fits in her childhood family around her career in a way that easily tracks how she thinks. I started reading and couldn’t put the book down. She provides an internal view of the California prison system that was eye-opening to me.
Reading her story, I felt like a friend was telling me about her life in such a way that I would be nosey about something and wish I could ask a question and then my wish would be granted as she would describe something that gave me an answer along with her positive perspective. Upon completion, my curiosity was satisfied. Although I will admit, her focus is on her childhood family and career, and I was hoping she would also cover being a mom, just because I wanted to know more about this interesting woman. Perhaps she will write another book.
Tobola writes her personal story in a descriptive tone at a quick pace where she fits in her childhood family around her career in a way that easily tracks how she thinks. I started reading and couldn’t put the book down. She provides an internal view of the California prison system that was eye-opening to me.
Reading her story, I felt like a friend was telling me about her life in such a way that I would be nosey about something and wish I could ask a question and then my wish would be granted as she would describe something that gave me an answer along with her positive perspective. Upon completion, my curiosity was satisfied. Although I will admit, her focus is on her childhood family and career, and I was hoping she would also cover being a mom, just because I wanted to know more about this interesting woman. Perhaps she will write another book.
December 10, 2025
Hummingbird in Underworld: Teaching in a Men's Prison is a compelling, heartfelt memoir that illuminates the transformative power of art in unexpected places. Deborah Tobola’s narrative draws readers into the hidden world of a prison, where creativity, resilience, and humanity coexist with tension and adversity. Through teaching creative writing and running a theatre program, Tobola introduces us to inmates like Opie, Razor, and Green Eyes, each vividly drawn with humor, empathy, and nuance. The memoir balances the challenges of bureaucracy, security, and human complexity with moments of insight, joy, and triumph. Tobola’s voice is candid, engaging, and deeply human, making this a thought-provoking exploration of rehabilitation, education, and the redemptive power of the arts.
August 10, 2026
A solid read. A hard one, in the best sense. I picked up this title at my local library because it sounded interesting, and it turned out to be far more than that. Tobola weaves in her personal memoirs and upbringing, setting them against the chaotic, monotonous rhythm of life inside a male penitentiary. What struck me most was her POV; she writes candidly about the friendships she formed with men caught in gang violence, men wrongfully accused, and men who had killed. How does anyone hold that much complexity without losing themselves?
The way she carries herself throughout, the compassion she extends without losing her judgment. It's a bit heavy in places, but if you can sit with the discomfort, it's an important read.
The way she carries herself throughout, the compassion she extends without losing her judgment. It's a bit heavy in places, but if you can sit with the discomfort, it's an important read.
October 23, 2019
A look at the California Correctional System through the eyes and actions of an artist. The author has survived a very dysfunctional life and yet has gone on to bring hope to the incarcerated through the arts.
I particularly enjoyed the themes of the plays that she and her “team” created. I know nothing about poetry, nor do I understand all its hidden nuances, but I did like “Red Door”, it sort of summed up the whole book.
A nice change from my usual reading habits.
I particularly enjoyed the themes of the plays that she and her “team” created. I know nothing about poetry, nor do I understand all its hidden nuances, but I did like “Red Door”, it sort of summed up the whole book.
A nice change from my usual reading habits.
September 17, 2020
I loved reading Hummingbird in Underworld! I found it fascinating and very interesting! I could not put the book down once I started reading. I could read it again and again! My friends enjoyed the book as well. What an Interesting career and life she has! Bringing Art to the inmates seems rewarding!
February 21, 2020
Not what I expected, but interesting. Jumps around two very different parts of her life, one more captivating than the other. Took a while to get through just 200 pages.
I have respect for HER, but not so much for her organization of the book. No regrets reading it, though!
I have respect for HER, but not so much for her organization of the book. No regrets reading it, though!
February 21, 2020
Okay, nothing fantastic. This is a personal issue but the fact that the author equates neck tattoos with the guards “acting like inmates.” Such an old-fashioned view of tattoos.
April 24, 2022
一半是自傳，一半是對於她在監獄系統中負責藝術專案過程的白描。記敘的年代很早，不一定贊成作者的評價與判斷但能夠理解（話說這本原文也沒有出很久？和描寫背景的時間落差有點大啊）。
以這樣戲劇化甚至可說是跌宕起伏的一線工作經歷來說，感覺她的描寫是平淡的，而且大多都交代得簡略而克制，但各種細節仍然頗有意思且有時戳人。
不難看，有時有光。
以這樣戲劇化甚至可說是跌宕起伏的一線工作經歷來說，感覺她的描寫是平淡的，而且大多都交代得簡略而克制，但各種細節仍然頗有意思且有時戳人。
不難看，有時有光。
February 13, 2025
3.75
place holder for his girl
place holder for his girl
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews