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Pido la Palabra is a grant-funded project that brings university-level creative writing classes to incarcerated students in Central Texas, with an emphasis on bilingual Spanish–English texts and writing.

Funded by a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the project is a collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin’s Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) in partnership with the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection (LLILAS Benson) and the Texas Prison Education Initiative (TPEI).

Over a period of three years, beginning in the spring term 2023 (January 9 to May 1, 2023), LLILAS Director Adela Pineda Franco and TPEI Director Miriam Schoenfield* are implementing two integrated and complementary initiatives: (1) a UT Austin seminar and practicum, Writing on the Edge: Literature and Incarceration, which trains a new generation of advanced undergraduate and graduate students to learn about prison writing and assist in the implementation of (2) a higher-learning Spanish and bilingual credit-bearing creative writing program, entitled Pido la Palabra, which is being offered to incarcerated students within the multilingual context of two Texas prisons.

Taking a hemispheric approach, prominent Latin American writers with demonstrated success teaching creative writing programs in prisons are serving as guest lecturers in the Writing on the Edge UT Austin seminar and they are also teaching one-week workshops with Pido la Palabra to incarcerated students. The project tackles the specific expressive and communication needs of the Spanish-speaking incarcerated population in the United States while promoting a service-driven education in the Humanities at UT Austin.

This initiative is not only enhancing UT Austin’s general education curriculum by affording university students the opportunity to engage with incarcerated communities in Texas through literature and creative writing, but provides credit-bearing transferable college classes to non-Native English speakers in prisons. These classes are raising literacy levels and bridging communication between community members inside and outside of the incarcerated milieu. Ultimately, we aim that this program can serve as a model for Spanish/bilingual language prison education offerings in the U.S.

Pido la palabra, poema colectivo
Septiembre 2023, Lockhart, Texas

Pido la Palabra
because I have something to share
a todos los que me escuchan,
lo que siente mi corazón en rimas y versos,
a quien amo y también al viento.

Pido la Palabra para dar fuerza,
para buscar lo positivo.
It can always be worse.
Tengo para decir palabras de amor y experiencia.
Soy fuerte, valgo, soy importante.
Hay mucha libertad en ser responsable.

Pido la palabra for peace of my mind and to cleanse my heart.
Para recordarme que aunque alguien juzgue lo que tengo que decir
es mi manera de expresarme.
I have a lot to say!
I love to learn and also share what I know.

Pido la palabra para poner límites,
también porque luego voy a dormir
porque mañana me levanto temprano.
Do you know how much I love you?
How I love my friends, my family, the people who hate me, ANYBODY…
Por eso digo:
love hard, ama fuerte.

Pido la palabra para hablar
A todo aquel que preste oído a mi voz.
Pido la palabra para hablar
a nadie.

* The program began under the co-direction of Sarah Brayne, former TPEI director.