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Herstory for Women Incarcerated on Long Island
Since 2004, Herstory Inside has been providing memoir writing workshops to incarcerated women on Long Island to help them reshape, reframe, and reclaim the events of their lives in ways that are both powerful and empowering. Writing memoir, more so than working in other literary genres, allows incarcerated women to transform the often traumatic personal histories that have brought them to where they are into illuminating narratives of self-discovery. Herstory workshops provide a safe space “on the inside”—a rare find behind the walls of a correctional facility—for women to revisit, without judgment from others, the childhood sexual abuse, violence, and addiction they may have experienced and that typically line the road to incarceration for women. The self-reflection inherent in sustained memoir writing offers women the chance to move forward on a different path—one characterized by strength, resilience, healing, and hope.
Whether they begin with the most painful event of their lives or a moment of joy, women writing on the inside take heroic risks when they share their stories with the other incarcerated women writing alongside them. In some cases the writers have known each other for years, even since before they were incarcerated, and may have histories with each other characterized by gang rivalry, physical harm, and betrayal. Writing and sharing their stories with one another, however, changes these relationships by creating a community within the jail that is rooted in mutual inspiration, support, and empathy—the cornerstone of Herstory’s methodology.
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​Herstory’s empathy-based approach allows incarcerated women to shed layers of shame, develop newfound self-esteem, and discover their own potential and personal strength—something many never experience before writing with Herstory.