Disguised As A Poem: My Years Teaching Poetry at San Quentin

by Judith Tannenbaum

When Judith Tannenbaum last met with her poetry writing class at San Quentin prison, one of the students commented, "Now I'm going to give you an assignment: write about these past four years from your point of view; tell your story; let us know what you learned." This beautifully crafted memoir is the fulfillment of that assignment.In stirring and intimate prose, Tannenbaum details the challenges, rewards, and paradoxes of teaching poetry to maximum-security inmates convicted of capital crimes. Recounting how she and her students shared profound and complicated lessons about humanity and life both inside and outside San Quentin's walls, Tannenbaum tells provocative stories of obsession, racism, betrayal, despair, courage, and beauty. Contrary to the growing public perception of prisoners as demons, the men in this poetry class-Angel, Coties, Elmo, Glenn, Richard, Spoon-emerge not as beasts or heroes but as human beings with expressive voices, thoughts, and feelings strikingly similar to the free.Tannenbaum provides revealing views of conditions in the cellblocks and shows how the realities of prison life often paralleled her own life experiences. She also relates such events as visits to her group by prominent poets (including Nobel Prize-winner Czeslaw Milosz); a prison production of Waiting for Godot sponsored by Samuel Beckett himself; and the presentation of her students' work to a class of sixth and eighth graders, who connected to the prisoners' words by writing their own poems to the inmates.

Genres: Poetry, Memoir, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Judith Tannenbaum has taught poetry in a wide variety of settings from primary school classrooms to maximum security prisons. She has chaired panels and served as keynote speaker at many conferences on prison, prison arts, and teaching arts, and taught in prisons in eight states. Judith currently serves as training coordinator for WritersCorps in San Francisco. You can read more about prison arts and teaching arts at her website.


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Reviews

[angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was beautiful and so incredibly moving. while the exposure of poetry provided vulnerability for these prisoners, i think their journey of putting that vulnerability to practice, while also having the strength to remain vulnerable in an environment that heavily discourages it is what truly brought me to tears. i’m glad that this book enabled their voices to reach beyond the walls of san quentin

[Karen Lausa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judith Tannenbaum's words resonate in my heart and spirit as I, too, work in the prison culture, creating book discussion communities in Colorado state prisons. The work requires passion, dedication and tenacity... and is supported by the wonderful, wise words from a veteran teacher- "But I'd never met a person, not even at San Quentin, who was evil, and only evil. From what I'd observed so far in life,every human being was capable of doing both good and bad, but no one I knew could be summed up forever by his worst act or best intention."
This is a special book, beautifully written and full of the discoveries and truths that emerge only from those able to penetrate prison culture. A stunning and heroic account of one tireless woman and her commitment to invite poetry into the lives of incarcerated men and women. This book makes anyone dedicated to social change feel less alone.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

i re-read random chapters in this book for continued inspiration in sharing art and cultivating the practice of art in others.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will change how you view our prison system and what it does to people and who is inside of them-if you have a conscience.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I burned through this book. How can a person of conscience try to use art
to change a life? How can that be not condescending? How can you not pretend
to know more than you know about the experiences of a prisoner? How can a
prisoner keep their heart alive? No saints or monsters in this book. But
there is a production of Beckett, some heartbreaking stories, and a few good
lesson plans.

[Ashley Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tannenbaum writes beautifully and really captures life at San Quentin during her years teaching poetry there. She makes an excellent case for doing the arts in unlikely places and an even better one for showing love and human kindness in institutions where people are deliberately cut off from their humanity.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book.

[Ami Elizabeth]

Great book about teaching poetry- the last 1/4 of the book got way off topic