Judith Tannenbaum (1947–2019) has an enduring legacy which shines through her work in various avenues. Her books serve to educate those on the power connection between art and incarceration. Her positive influence on the community persists through the fellowships and awards named in her honor. By providing recognition and support, these programs allow individuals to continue her mission of fostering change and empowerment within the community and prison systems.
A two-person memoir that explores education, prison, possibility, and which children our world nurtures and which it shuns. At the book’s core are two stories that speak up for human imagination, spirit, and the power of art.
Poetry and prose by artists, writers, and activists who’ve taught workshops in U.S. criminal legal institutions, this is a book for anyone seeking to understand the prison industrial complex from a human perspective.
All author royalties from this book will be donated to Dances for Solidarity, a project that brings arts opportunities to people incarcerated in solitary confinement.
The story of an old man learns how to die from a younger woman facing death, this book is ultimately about the lost human art of releasing everything that matters to the living in preparation for the inevitable. It is a rare lesson offered by a poet who somehow taught herself, and then the author, how to let go.
The Book of Judith honors Judith Tannenbaum and echoes her own determination to perceive contradiction without judgment. For the next generation of teaching artists in Corrections and elsewhere, the book serves as an inspiration on the qualities needed to survive and thrive in a multi-faceted, ever-changing environment.
