By: Matthew Farrell
Prisoner Express (P.E.) is a distance-learning program for incarcerated people run out of the Durland Alternatives Library at Cornell University. It began when librarian Gary Fine received a letter from a local prisoner named Danny Harris inquiring about their “books to prison program.” Gary politely responded explaining there was no such program.
Danny immediately wrote back, profusely thanking Gary just for acknowledging his letter. He was living in almost complete isolation at the time, with only one hour a day outside his cell and nothing to pass the time except books, paper and a pencil. Gary was moved by how much his simple response had meant to Danny and decided to follow up with a few books for him to read.
The program grew out of that interaction and now has over 4,000 active members. At first, they focused on sending out packages of books, but P.E. now offers educational programs as well and provides creative outlets for incarcerated people to share their work with the public and each other.
I began working with Gary in 2020 to design a course packet on screenwriting. We get a wide-range of participants: some are very advanced and experienced writers, while others struggle with basic English composition skills. I’m still learning how best to tailor the material for each specific writer. Most of the prisoners don’t have access to a computer, so I’ve been trying to develop ways they can practice screenwriting with pencil and paper.
Given all the challenges, making progress with the students can be a bumpy road, but the responses I’ve received have made me realize that the most crucial aspect of this work is helping people feel that their voices are being heard and providing an opportunity for someone to engage their mind and apply themselves to a creative task.
When I recruit volunteers, people are often nervous about what they’re supposed to say. I try to counsel that what’s important is that you read their work, take it seriously and engage a fellow writer with a thoughtful response. That connection alone makes a deep impact on someone living in isolation.
Besides logistics, the other challenge of this work is that you don’t get to choose who you work with. I think as reform-minded people, we can sometimes fall victim to a fairy-tale vision where everyone in prison is a non-violent drug offender who the system has wronged. Choosing to be a part of P.E. means that you don’t just serve the “good prisoners.” You have to try and welcome every letter with a clean slate.
One of the best pieces of work I ever received was also one of the most difficult to respond to. It was a treatment from a writer who had sexually abused his own child. It was a redemption story, but it had a moral complexity and maturity that felt well beyond what you usually receive from a first-time writer.
In his film treatment (and one assumes in real-life), a middle-class man with a good job loses his whole life when his abuse is uncovered. In prison, the character begins to go through therapy and confronts his own childhood trauma. He then seeks to reconnect and find forgiveness from the child he victimized. At first, the child interacts with him, but she ultimately decides she can’t have a relationship with him and cuts off all contact. After that, the protagonist enters a volunteer program where he counsels young people with similar backgrounds of trauma and finds his redemption in the relationships he forms there.
I support criminal justice reform and would agree that many people in the United States who are incarcerated do not deserve the sentences they receive, but I think an equally important, and perhaps more difficult, question is how do we respond to the people whose actions we do feel require a response from the justice system? How do we treat the people whose crimes weren’t victimless? Do we just want offenders to be exiled completely or are we expecting that this system will offer opportunities for growth? Are we truly open to giving someone who committed a serious crime the chance to re-enter the world and build a new life?
I think the work Gary and his team do takes an affirmative stand on that question and it’s been a great privilege to collaborate with them.
MATT FARRELL
Matt Farrell is a New York based filmmaker, professor, and editor. He received an M.F.A. in Directing from Columbia University in 2016 and now teaches in the graduate program. He works as a freelance editor and motion graphics artist and also runs a production company that produces original content.
WEBSITE: mattvideoshd.com
INSTAGRAM: @mattvideoshd