The Self Revealed

Published January 2008
Introduction The Self Revealed showcases the work of Low Newton writers over recent months and includes poetry, short stories, memoirs and extracts from novels. The writing reveals honesty, authenticity and in some cases an amazing courage in trying to say the unsayable in a form that suggests emerging mastery, rather than victim-hood

In this volume - as with all writers – we find that genuine wit, the language of imagination, and skills of invention can transform powerful life experiences from a curse into a resource, where truth can be handled at a safe critical distance. We have had many fruitful discussions about the crucial, liberating role fiction can play in this process

As a matter of respect, I have included some of my own writing here, and that of Avril Joy, as we too are part of the community of writers at Low Newton, sharing a similar journey to become better writers.

In putting this collection together I have tried to avoid purely sentimental writing and focused on those writers who are continuing to grow and learn through their experience of writing.

As a collection The Self Revealed communicates a broad range of insights, from which we in society can develop new kinds of understanding and empathy for the experience of individuals.

As well as this, it is a very good read: you may get angry, you may smile, you may cry, but you won’t come away unmoved.

Wendy Robertson
Writer-in-Residence
HMP Low Newton

Governor's Forward

Early this year I was delighted to welcome author Wendy Robertson in joining us for an exceptional second term as HMP Low Newton’s Writer In Residence.

I believe that much of the real work of a Writer In Residence goes unseen. I often meet Wendy, working with small groups of women or individuals, in our Learning Shop or in the small group room on F Wing where she and her writers gather every Friday evening.

But only now, as I am presented with The Self Revealed, this substantial collection of women’s writing, can I understand the measure and nature of what she does. Now I realise how significant and inspirational her impact has been.

The range of work in this volume reflects the complex and individual nature of the women writers. In reading The Self Revealed we can all share and learn from this complexity and from the flowering of their creativity. In their writing the women reveal themselves in a way that does not find space in any other area of prison life. This makes it entirely unique.

The Self Revealed celebrates our women writers. It also celebrates the work of Wendy’s residency. It is a mark of her enduring commitment to writing, and to the women of Low Newton; enabling them, as she does here, to find their true voices

Paddy Fox
Governor: HMP Low Newton