Changing Lives through Literature

Edited by Robert P. Waxler and Jean R. Trounstine

Robert P. Waxler believes that stories can save us from the chaos of our lives. He began the “Changing Lives Through Literature” program to demonstrate that literature has the power to change the lives of criminal offenders. By examining the works of contemporary authors such as James Baldwin and Alice Walker, these reading groups, made up of eight convicted criminals, a probation officer, and a judge, became an exploration into the meaning of democracy. When the members of the group who had been pushed to the margins and refused a voice began to rediscover their identity, the idea for this anthology was born.

Changing Lives Through Literature depends on the belief that modern literature is the best tool our society has to explore human identity, and to keep it alive. Through their tireless work in the Massachusetts prison system, co-editors Waxler and Jean R. Trounstine discovered that a study of modern literature enhances readers’ verbal skills through an engagement with language, opens experience to a multitude of perspectives, enriches our sense of human diversity, and makes us self-reflective and thoughtful.

The stories included in this valuable anthology are written by notable contemporary raconteurs such as T. Coraghessan Boyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, and Raymond Carver, and have been successful in exciting conversation among the “Changing Lives Through Literature” groups.

This book will arouse interest in anyone involved in, or moved by, the “Changing Lives Through Literature” program. It is truly a valuable gift for alternative learners: criminal offenders in or out of prison, displaced workers, and any reader failed by the traditional educational system.

Robert P. Waxler is Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and the co-founder of the nationally-recognized “Changing Lives Through Literature” program for criminal offenders. Jean R. Trounstine is Professor of Humanities at Middlesex Community College and the creator of a humanities-based theater arts program at Framingham Women’s Prison in Massachusetts.

Reviews

“The title of this collection reveals the editors’ ambitious premise: that literature has the ability to transform lives. Not just any lives: criminal lives. . . . The selections are divided into four categories—violence, identity/voice, friendship/love, and family—with an introduction for each. Each selection ends with reflections from each of the editors, encouraging, they hope, the notion of dialogue and inquiry.” — Booklist

“ Changing Lives through Literature advocates that modern literature is the best tool our society has to explore human identity, and to keep it alive. The stories included in this outstanding anthology are written by such notable authors as T. Coraghessan Boyle, Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, and Raymond Carver. Changing Lives Through Literature is highly recommended reading for alternative learners, criminal offenders in or out of prison, displaced workers, those failed by the traditional educational system, and the professionals and paraprofessionals who work with them.” — The Midwest Book Review

“The book was designed to be used in a program in which criminal offenders examine the work of contemporary authors and through discussion, gain insight on how their lives might be changed. Good idea, good book, good selections and discussion starters that might be of interest to those who believe that stories can save us.” — National Catholic Reporter