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By Heart: Poetry, Prison, and Two Lives
“A boy with no one to listen becomes a man in prison for life and discovers his mind can be free. A woman enters prison to teach and becomes his first listener. And so begins a twenty-five year friendship between two gifted writers and poets. The result is By Heart— a book that will anger you, give you hope, and break your heart."—Gloria Steinem
For most of their adult live...more
For most of their adult live...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
April 1st 2010
by New Village Press
(first published 2010)
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Apr 18, 2010
Chantell Petrell
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone with a heart.
Recommended to Chantell by:
the internets
This book taught me about how prison life is confined, but hopeful. People have dreams, no matter where they are or in what situation. Everyone is human, and this book enforces that beauty is always there- even if it goes unnoticed. It makes me sad that the prison programs are disappearing. This book is the kind that you just can't read and say, "it was ok." It made me feel like getting out there and helping someone. People need each other, and this book forced me not to just look at these thing...more
This dual memoir allows the reader to hear from Spoon Jackson, a man imprisoned for murder, and Judith Tannenbaum, a teacher who believes in humanity and the power of words. The book begins by illustrating how different these two are, how unlikely that their paths should cross. We meet them in San Quentin, the better part of a decade into Spoon's sentence and Judith beginning her second year teaching an Arts-in-Corrections poetry class at the prison. As Judith states on the first page of the pre...more
I finished this two person memoir and was blown away by the deeply personal writing by Spoon Jackson and Judith Tannenbaum. They write about how their childhoods shaped their adult lives and for Spoon, how this led to being incarcerated in San Quentin. I felt that reading about Spoon's experiences was eye opening; he becomes not a prisoner, but a real person, with his love for nature, his innate curiosity and unfortunately the lack of encouragement from his teachers in school. Spoon is not just...more
May 11, 2010
L.J.
added it
By Heart: Poetry, Prison, and Two Lives, by Judith Tannenbaum & Spoon Jackson
(198 pages/New Village Press, 2010)
By Heart is a new collaborative memoir by Judith Tannenbaum and Spoon Jackson. Tannenbaum is a poet and educator who has taught poetry in schools since the 1970’s and has been involved in teaching poetry in prisons since the 1980’s. Spoon Jackson is a poet serving a life sentence. The two met at San Quentin State Prison and formed the friendship that led to the writing of this book...more
(198 pages/New Village Press, 2010)
By Heart is a new collaborative memoir by Judith Tannenbaum and Spoon Jackson. Tannenbaum is a poet and educator who has taught poetry in schools since the 1970’s and has been involved in teaching poetry in prisons since the 1980’s. Spoon Jackson is a poet serving a life sentence. The two met at San Quentin State Prison and formed the friendship that led to the writing of this book...more
I RECIEVED THE BOOK LAST WEEK, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN. THIS BOOK IS MUST READ FOR ALL AGES. THE MAJOR LESSON OF I'VE LEARNED IS TO BE LESS JUDGMENTAL, MORE OPEN AND REALIZE PRISON BARS MAY PHYSICALLY BE A BARRIER BUT MAY NOT BE A BARRIER TO ONE'S MIND.
SUPERB!!!!!!!!EVERYONE SHOULD READ BY HEART ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIME!!!!!!!!! SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS
SUPERB!!!!!!!!EVERYONE SHOULD READ BY HEART ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIME!!!!!!!!! SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS
I won this as a goodreads giveaway. This book opens up the prison world that the rest of society wants to forget and shows the men with "one foot in light and one foot in darkness" as human. The duel narratives gives different perspectives from two very different people who were connected through poetry. Judith Tannenbaum has lived a very free and artistic life, Spoon has been confined within the prison system and only after being confined finds his artistic voice. Following the development of t...more
This book was very interesting. Brought reality back to life in some parts. How someone can go from childhood to manhood without realizing alot surprises me - I would recommend this book to anyone. Really enjoyred it
Judith Tannenbaum and Spoon Jackson have written an interesting account of their lives and their relationship to one another through poetry. This is a great book for folks who are interested in arts in prisons, and it has an in-depth account of the 1980s production of Waiting for Godot in San Quentin.
I won this on first reads.
Interesting and enlightening on parts of our culture that are not regularly seen or discussed.
Interesting and enlightening on parts of our culture that are not regularly seen or discussed.
At the risk of sounding glib, this is a truly inspiring book. We are more alike than we are different.
Mar 13, 2013
Leslie
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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...more
More about Judith Tannenbaum...
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