9 Comments
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Eleanor Jones's avatar

I really enjoyed this, thank you for sharing! I watched Waiting For The Out also and found it utterly brilliant!

Adam Farrer's avatar

Great isn’t it? Made me so anxious at times but well worth sitting in that feeling.

Elaine R. Frieman's avatar

Congrats on your agent! Is it a new one? 🤔 And happy 50th! 🥳

Adam Farrer's avatar

Thank you! And no, I’d been doing all this without an agent until now and decided it was well overdue. She handles some of my favourite writers, so I’m very pleased to be signed up with her.

Elaine R. Frieman's avatar

Ahh congrats! That’s incredible. ❤️🥰🥳🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Elaine R. Frieman's avatar

And I’ll have everything crossed for you for some amazing upcoming deals and advances with a brilliant agent on your side (plus your incredible talent). 🤩🥰🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Elaine R. Frieman's avatar

What a beautiful write up and what worthwhile work you’re doing. 🫶🏻🥰 Would love to donate a small amount to the biscuit fund so you can buy more treats for these men. Goodness knows by the sound of it some have had few kindnesses. 😭 I loved your brother’s story and as you say, thank goodness he had the wherewithal to sort his life out and the family support too.

Amy Catherine's avatar

Thank you for sharing, Adam. As a mental health nursing student (many years ago) I spent time working in a Cat B prison, and also witnessed the positive impact and lifeline that creative writing/poetry writing and reading can have on prisoners. Creativity is so important for self-expression and reflection. My brother also did something silly and uncharacteristic as a vulnerable and immature 19 year old and was handed a lengthy (unfair) sentence given it was a first offence, with many extenuating circumstances. He absolutely deserved a sentence and to learn from his criminal mistake, yet reading, learning and writing kept him alive and growing whilst in prison.

Adam Farrer's avatar

It was my brother's time inside that really opened this up for me. Talking about his experience, I started getting invited into prisons to run these workshops. The response from guys who have so often been told that they and their experiences are worthless is often astounding. And at every session I hear work from at least one guy and think "bloody hell, you're a writer!" I don't think these sessions are a cure for society's ills but like you say, they definitely keep people growing and they offer new possibilities.