In Place of Rage and Violence : Poems and Stories from Welford Road [1 ed.] 9781906534226, 9781904380146

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TPS (210 x 146 mm)

ISBN: 1-904380-14-X (210 x 146mm) (210)

In Place of

Rage and Violence POEMS AND STORIES FROM WELFORD ROAD

Edited by

Tim Reeves

WATERSIDE PRESS

HMP , LEICESTER

~~'-=~~

In Place of

Rage and Violence POEMS AND STORIES FROM WELFORD ROAD

Edited by

Tim Reeves

WATERSIDE PRESS

HMP , LEICESTER

~~'-=~~

ii

In Place of Rage and Violence

In Place of Rage and Violence POEMS AND STORIES FROM WELFORD ROAD

Edited by Tim Reeves Published 2004 by

WATERSIDE PRESS DomumRoad Winchester 5023 9NN United Kingdom Telephone: 01962 855567 E-mail: [email protected] Online catalogue and bookstore: www.watersidepress.co.uk Copyright: © Tim Reeves. All rights reserved. Contributions remain the copyright of the individual contributors as named at the head or foot of their own piece. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, including over the Internet, without prior permission. The right of Tim Reeves or other contributors as the case may be to be identified as the author(s) of this work has been asserted by him(them) in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. ISBN 1 904380 14 X

Catalogue-In-Publication Data: A catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library Printing and binding: by Antony Rowe Ltd, Eastbourne Cover design: Waterside Press from an original idea by Tim Reeves

Poems and Stories from Welford Road

iii

Foreword It is with great pleasure and a certain amount of pride that I write the foreword to this excellent collection of work by the men of Leicester Prison. I have been associated with the Writers in Residence Scheme for many years at several different prisons and I have a firm belief that any form of creative arts can help prisoners increase their self esteem, and this can so often be their first introduction to an education department or a learning centre, which in turn can be the first step away from a career in crime. I remember vividly, a young offender, whom the courts and society had labelled a thug', showing his grandparents in a crowded visits room a piece of work that the writer in residence had helped him to get published. The young man was full of pride and it proved to be a turning point in his life because he was able to build on this small step and engage with staff on a process of change. I

I am very grateful for the work and dedication of our current Writer in Residence Tim Reeves, a man who is never afraid of a challenge, and who can always find some good in any man, no matter what his offence or his background might have been. Regretfully, Tim is due to leave us shortly as he comes to the end of his residency. He will be missed by both staff and prisoners and I would like to say a big thank you for the time and encouragement that Tim has always given so freely. I hope you enjoy this anthology, I think the title is very apt. I know of several men who have replaced rage and violence with written wordsnow if we could only encourage a few more men to take this pathway. Steve Turner Governor, HM Prison Leicester

iv

In Place of Rage and Violence

About the editor Tim Reeves was Writer in Residence at HM Prison Leicester from 2002 to 2004, funded by the Arts Council. He also teaches creative writing at the University of Warwick and his forthcoming novel The Escape Artists was shortlisted for the 2004 Lichfield Prize. He has an MA in English.

Poems and Stories from Welford Road

Contents Foreword Steve Turner, Governor of HMP Leicester Introduction Tiro Reeves, Writer in Residence HMP Leicester

iii 7

Poems 1 Banged Up

There Was Nothing There New Fish All The Same A Hard Day's Night Unspoken Words Ins titutionalised Stretch Game On

Stuart Stevens Robert Alexander S. Weir Robert Alexander Mark Trevail AndrewPage Richard Faulkner Robert Alexander

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Flashback

Ian Shipley

20

Mini Life-Story Hilly

Hilly

23

Shirley Will Jimmy Coughlan DKK Robert Alexander AndrewPage Dateman Andrew Page AndrewPage AndyHinds

26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

TimNoble

36

The Day I Became a Drug Addict

Jez Sharratt

38

Poems 3 Love Hearts Life Line The Storm Old Grey Eyes Down to You

Jason Price Andrew Page Ian Forbes Raff Choudry

40 41 42 43

Short Fiction

Poems 2 Prison Life

Servery Shirley (best dish of the day) Mask The Battlefield Lost Protege Reflections? Hot Water Infinitely I Look Forward to Christmas A Better Day One Last Thing Short Fiction

Escape Mini Life-Story

v

vi

In Place of Rage and Violence

Lovers The Man the Woman The Feeling of Warmth I Only Have to Look 'Time Takes its Toll' The Door Slams

MB ran Forbes Craig McGuire Turvey Robert Alexander Stephen Roberts

44 45 46 47 49 50

Short Fiction

The Night a Hebridean Posse Corralled a Glaswegian Cowboy

Robert Alexander 51

Mini Life-Story

World of Pain

Chris Cooper

54

Shirley Jimmy Coughlan Jimmy Coughlan

56 57 58

Poems 4 Drugs

Cotton Wool Dreams Don't Be Afraid Junkie Duck Short Fiction

Useless

Shayne O'Connor

59

Article

Education Behind Bars

Robert Alexander

61

Baxter Leaky Carl Bailey Peter Hanrahan

64 65 66 68

Robert Alexander

69

Pritchard

71

Robert Alexander Boston Andy Sharpe Robert Alexander Andrew Page

74 75 77 79 80

Andrew Page

81

Poems 5 Crime

Dear Lord Joy Rider Countin' Down Time Stereotypes a Go Go Short Fiction

The Toothless Kid from Gumsy Canyon Article

Prison Without Walls Poems 6 War

The Aftermath of War Return of the Drifter Dark Reflections Mother's Son The Battlefield Article

Don't Suffer in Silence

7

Introduction During my two year stint as Writer in Residence at HMP Leicester (not actually resident, you understand, they let me out at the end of the day) I have worked, individually, with over 130 prisoners. What I have admired most in good prison writers is the fact that they have looked honestly at their raw emotions and, with considerable effort and skill, reached out and explained them to others. My job has granted me the privilege to see inside a part of society that I would normally avoid and which is usually hidden-there are no signposts to HMP Leicester. Many of my preconceived ideas about prison turned out to be a bit shaky. The best writing in prison, represented in this anthology, sets up and then breaks down the popular myths about prison life and about prisoners' personae. The writing reveals something recognisably vulnerable and human in the prisoner and can be read equally as non-prison writing. Honesty in the face of bravado The honesty found in this anthology takes on a particularly brave form. It flies in the face of the male banter and bravado that are so much a part of the fa