“Redemption Songs: A Year in the Life of a Community Prison Choir” was released in April, 2019. Based on my experience as a volunteer singing in a choir with prisoners, the book delves into issues of restorative justice, music and the arts as rehabilitative tools, and explores some of the most pressing issues facing the criminal justice system and the men and women whom we as a society have chosen to put behind bars. Through interviews, correspondence and personal experience, I tell the stories of several “insiders,” volunteers and prison administrators, aimed at providing a window into this complex and fraught world. The book also takes a deep dive into a number of the issues facing the criminal justice system. It engages with restorative justice and the importance of victim acknowledgment and reparation. It looks at other programs that help insiders atone and come to grips with their emotional lives, as well as develop skills and knowledge they’ll need post-release. Mostly, though, the book is about the sheer joy of making music together, of creative, collective, connective singing!
Watch for more info about readings and other events. To order, contact the author at [email protected]. The book is priced at $16, plus $4 for S & H.
Dr André de Quadros, Professor of Music and Chair, Department of Music Education, Boston University, notes, “More than an account of the choir’s work, the book is a deep insight into musical humanity under dehumanizing conditions. Douglas’s work is evocative and thoughtful, deeply compassionate and humble, and brings the reader close to the troubled lives, wounds and hopes of the incarcerated men.”
Watch for more info about readings and other events. To order, contact the author at [email protected]. The book is priced at $16, plus $4 for S & H.
Dr André de Quadros, Professor of Music and Chair, Department of Music Education, Boston University, notes, “More than an account of the choir’s work, the book is a deep insight into musical humanity under dehumanizing conditions. Douglas’s work is evocative and thoughtful, deeply compassionate and humble, and brings the reader close to the troubled lives, wounds and hopes of the incarcerated men.”