NEWS

CHAPEL HILL -- Inmates from the Raleigh Correctional Center for Women will share stories about their lives in a public program in Carrboro May 14 titled "Doing More than Time."

The nine women, among participants in the North Carolina Women’s Prison Writing and Performance Project, will give dramatic spoken presentations of writing they completed in the project. Admission will not be charged for the 8 p.m. performance at the ArtsCenter at 300-G E. Main St., but donations of at least $12 will be requested at the door. The project, funded by donations, is overseen by the Jordan Institute for Families at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work.

About 13 women participate in the project’s weekly workshops at the prison; professional artists lead the sessions, said Judith Reitman, a fellow at the institute who directs and founded the project. The project is therapeutic for the women and helps them move from rage and victimization to reflection and self-empowerment, she said.

Since the project began in 2001, participants have performed to standing-room-only crowds three times, Reitman said.  "The power and beauty of these women’s work is extraordinary. The performance will, I hope, open to public debate issues of women in prison and overall issues of women and violence," she said.

For more information, visit www.unc.edu/~cramer/prison or contact Reitman at 732-5601 or judithreitman@earthlink.net.

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Note: To cover a rehearsal of the program, from 6-8:30 p.m. May 12 at the ArtsCenter, notify the N.C. Department of Correction’s public affairs office by 5 p.m. that day, 919-716-3700. Questions about coverage should go to Pamela Walker or Keith Acree at that number. Reporters also may arrange to interview the women at the prison by faxing a written request to Walker at 919-716-3795

Project contact: Judith Reitman, 919-732-5601, judithreitman@earthlink.net

News Services contact: L.J. Toler, 919-962-8589