You are invited to join us for a very special Book Talk at the Early Center :

Writing Our Way Out : Memoirs from Jail is Dr. David Coogan’s 2015 memoir of teaching ten men to write their ways to freedom, beginning at the Richmond City Jail in 2006. Detailing formative and transformative memories, the stories of these men explore the racial conditions, the economic traps, and the criminal turning points on the path to imprisonment in modern America, as well as the spiritual, political, and redemptive power of memoir.  Join us for a series of readings by Dr. Coogan and Mr. Naji Mujahid, Mr. Tony Martin, and Mr. Stanley Craddock, followed by Q&A and a reception with refreshments and a book signing.

Our guests will discuss the book as a panel, sharing their personal stories and challenging us to learn about the policy issues surrounding incarceration and the criminal justice system.  The book was developed from Dr. Coogan’s work with over five dozen inmates at the Richmond City Jail, supported by Virginia Commonwealth University’s College of Humanities and Sciences through its Student Engagement Program.  Dr. Coogan is an Associate Professor of English and Co-Director of the Open Minds program at VCU, and he is currently working on a new book entitled Memoirs of Mass Incarceration : The Rhetoric of Revolutionaries, Witnesses and Survivors.

Please feel welcome to attend this exceptional evening.  The gathering will take place in Lake Chapel in the Early Center, with a book-signing afterward in Rose Hall.  For location information and some campus maps, please click HERE.