In this section, you will find details about our creative writing workshops held in two correctional facilities in Texas. We have facilitated several Spanish and bilingual creative writing workshops at the Coleman Correctional Facility for women in Lockhart and the Gardner Betts Juvenile Center in Austin.
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Introduction to Creative Writing / Coleman Correctional Facility / Fall 2023
This was an introductory creative writing workshop conducted in Spanish. Participants explore the art of storytelling, poetry, and narrative experimentation through reading and writing exercises. Drawing inspiration from authors such as Pilar Quintana, Julio Cortázar, Nicanor Parra, and Cristina Rivera Garza, we approach literature as a space of freedom, play, and reflection. The foundations were built for the upcoming credit bearing course on the Fall.
Teaching team: Prof. Adela Pineda (supervisor), Gabriel Noriega, Yefferson Ospina (GRAs)
Pido la Palabra: First Credit Bearing Course / Coleman Correctional Facility / Fall 2023
In this 14 week course, participants read and wrote aesthetic texts as a way to think critically, explore human emotions and communicate with others in meaningful ways. They engaged their imagination to create alternative environments, using writing both as personal reflection and collective expression, always grounded in their own life experiences. Throughout the course, students read poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction prose with growing understanding, appreciation, and engagement, while developing their analytical and interpretative skills. They enhanced their capacity for self-expression and communication through writing, learned how literary texts are crafted, reflected on their meanings, and established connections between literature and their own lives. When we completed the course, students had formed a tight community and saw themselves as thinkers and creative writers. Students not only learned how to read and interpret literary texts, but they also produced compelling stories and poetry, which led to a publication illustrated by them.
Teaching team: Prof. Adela Pineda (supervisor) and graduate students: Gabriel Noriega, Yefferson Ospina (GRAs), Alex Voisine, Celine Norman and Kelsey Bergson (volunteers).
Guest instructors from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina: Sabrina Charaf and María José Rubín.
“In creative writing I can say that I’ve come out of my shell in an atmosphere where everybody
is non-judgmental, and there’s a lot of constructive criticism that is very positive,” wrote
Oceanna, an English-speaking student. “I have also gotten to meet very talented people
from a different part of the world, who have influenced the class to have a different outlook on
poetry, and have also help us tune in to our inner poets. . . . I have also gotten to meet other
very smart and talented women who are in the same environment as me, and we have all had
fun writing and enjoying poetry.”
Introduction to Creative Writing Workshop / Gardner Betts Juvenile Center / Fall 2023
This bilingual course offered students their first encounter with creative writing, while also serving as an initial experience for a new generation of creative writing instructors working within a juvenile facility. Centered around the reading and discussion of Drown (1996) by Junot Díaz, the class provided a space for students to explore and share personal stories related to their families and upbringing. Through reading and writing, students engaged in meaningful reflection and expression, using literature as a bridge to connect their lived experiences with broader themes of identity, belonging, and resilience.
Teaching team: Prof. Adela Pineda (supervisor) and graduate students: Gabriel Noriega, Yefferson Ospina (GRAs)
Guest instructors from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina: Sabrina Charaf and María José Rubín.
Book Club / Coleman Correctional Facility / Summer 2024
This four-week collective reading focused on Señales que precederán al fin del mundo (2009) by Yuri Herrera. What made the experience particularly meaningful was how Makina’s border-crossing journey resonated with participants, encouraging them to reflect on and share their own personal stories. The novel served as a catalyst for dialogue about migration, family, identity, and transformation, creating a space for deep connection between literature and lived experience.
Teaching team: Prof. Adela Pineda (supervisor) and graduate students: Gabriel Noriega, Yefferson Ospina (GRAs).
“Pudimos ingresar a la prisión y tener nuestra primera sesión del club de lectura. Las chicas estaban muy emocionadas por volvernos a ver, al igual que nosotros a ellas” (Gabriel)
Podcast Workshop / Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center / Summer 2024
During this 4 session workshop students developed communicative skills, enhanced their abilities to self-expression and showed empathy towards each other’s stories. They became familiar with podcasting techniques and equipment. It is worth noting that this workshop was focused on developing story-telling and interviewing skills. Twelve meaningful interviews were recorded, reflecting the personal narratives and aspirations of the young participants.
Teaching team: Prof. Adela Pineda (supervisor) and graduate students: Gabriel Noriega, Yefferson Ospina (GRAs)
Pido la Palabra: Second Credit Bearing Course / Coleman Correctional Facility / Fall 2024
The objective of the course was to give students the tools to write poems and stories of their own, and to express their emotions, feelings, and thoughts through an aesthetic search. In the process, students built a community and a sense of self-assertion that enabled them to strengthen a voice of their own, becoming the poets and narrators of their personal stories.
Throughout the semester, students read and analyzed poetry, short stories, and non-fiction texts by various authors. They discussed with the instructors the techniques and writing strategies present in the selected readings in order to apply and replicate those strategies in their own texts. The writing sessions were organized as workshops in which each participant read and commented on the work of their fellow students, fostering a dynamic that encouraged them to reflect on and explore their personal experiences as shared predicaments rooted in social dimensions.
The texts produced in this course are included in our second magazine Lo que tú no ves: Expressions from the Chicas in White.
Teaching team: Prof. Gabriela Polit (supervisor) and graduate students: Alex Voisine, Isabel Ibánez (GRAs), Oscar Chaidez, Yefferson Ospina, Gabriel Noriega, Celine Norman (volunteers)
Guest instructor from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina: Ana Laura Camarda.
Creative Writing Workshop / Gardner Betts Juvenile Center / Fall 2024
During this four-week workshop, participants engaged in an immersive Spanish-language environment that fostered confidence in their identities. Our guest from the University of Buenas Aires, Ph.D Ana Laura Camarda, led a session using creative, didactic materials that deeply resonated with participants, prompting rich reflection on their childhood and neighborhood experiences. The Pido la Palabra instructors also benefited from her insights and pedagogical approach. By the end of the workshop, students produced fictionalized narratives about their childhood adventures, incorporating literary elements such as atmosphere, character development, tone, and register, among others.
Teaching team: Prof. Adela Pineda (supervisor) and graduate students: Gabriel Noriega, Yefferson Ospina (GRAs).
Guest instructor from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina: Ana Laura Camarda.
Poster Workshop / Gardner Betts Juvenile Center / Spring 2024
During the spring semester, the project welcomed Sara López Ellitsgaard, director of the Institute of Graphic Arts in Oaxaca. This workshop aimed to introduce participants to the creation of graphic art and poster design with expressive, personal, and social purposes. Drawing from the experience and guidance of guest facilitator Sara López Ellitsgaard, the goal was to visually explore topics that were meaningful to the participants and to produce a final poster that was sent to a binational event with incarcerated youth in Oaxaca, Mexico. The workshop focused on two main themes: “El agua” and “El español”. Beyond the incorporation of a variety of graphic techniques, the atmosphere of the workshop fostered a powerful exchange of experiences among participants. Through collaborative reflection and creative expression, the space became one of shared storytelling, where personal and cultural narratives were explored visually and collectively.
Guest instructor from the IAGo, Mexico: Sara López Ellitsgaard