The Practice of Freedom

Updated as of February 5, 2021

Dear Readers,

We, the interim coeditors of Poetry magazine, understand that many people are disturbed by our editorial decisions in the February 2021 issue, “The Practice of Freedom.” We condemn all acts of violence and recognize its life-shattering impact. We acknowledge the trauma of those who have been harmed. We are distressed to know that some readers and community members feel great pain in response to this publication. The stories that some of you have shared with us are anguishing. We are sorry that we were not prepared to adequately respond to and support survivors upon the release of this issue. 

The issue is dedicated to those directly impacted by the criminal legal system and includes the poetry and artwork of currently and formerly incarcerated people. We uphold the work of the guest editors and our shared vision for this issue, as well as the editorial process. The poems and artwork for this issue were assessed without the bias of specific convictions. As editors, we did not evaluate the convictions, the circumstances, the impact of the crimes, the depth of the harm any person has done, or their potential for good. 

In publishing an issue that included incarcerated writers, we accepted that submissions would come from poets who have harmed others. We believe that weighing people’s convictions in editorial decisions for this issue would be antithetical to the discourse around the practices of freedom we are seeking to facilitate. We believe that drawing an editorial line for which crimes are tolerable would be exercising individual punishments for systemic problems. For these reasons, we will maintain the issue as published with all of the poems and artworks.

As the Poetry magazine editorial team, we should have been more transparent about our approach to “The Practice of Freedom” issue from its inception. The response to this issue has led us to consider the ways in which we should be more thoughtful and proactive about sharing the editorial principles that guide our future work.

We welcome ideas and feedback to [email protected].

—Holly Amos, Lindsay Garbutt, Fred Sasaki, Poetry interim coeditors 

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Original post from February 1, 2021

Dear Readers,

We’re proud to present the February 2021 issue of Poetry, titled “The Practice of Freedom.” The issue is devoted to the work of poets and artists who have been directly affected by the criminal legal system. Guest editors Joshua Bennett, Tara Betts, and Sarah Ross selected poems, art, and prose for the special issue through the lens of their commitment to, and work with, incarcerated artists and writers. 

Joshua Bennett first approached us with the idea for this issue in 2017, after an event called “A Provocation: Poetry in the Age of Mass Incarceration.” Tara Betts and Sarah Ross joined the issue as an extension of our partnership with the Prison+Neighborhood Art/Education Project (P+NAP), an organization that brings college-level programming into Stateville Correctional Center, a men’s maximum-security prison in Crestville, Illinois. Since 2011, the Poetry Foundation has funded and helped to develop the poetry teaching artist position at Stateville, facilitating poets there to read, write, and discuss poetry in community. Sarah Ross cofounded the P+NAP program and Tara Betts has taught at Stateville for several years as a poetry teaching artist.

“The Practice of Freedom” is free to download in the Poetry Magazine App, available through the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon. We also have a complimentary PDF of the issue available here. As always, the issue is free to read on our website.

We are also offering complimentary print copies of the February issue to literary, arts, and community organizations that work with people who are currently or formerly incarcerated. These are available on a first come, first served basis. UPDATE as of 2/5/21: All complimentary print copies have been claimed and we will be in touch with requesters in the coming days to coordinate shipments.

We will continue the conversation on this important topic throughout the month of February and beyond.