"Through publication and public performance, the community comes to know these women - their anger and remorse; their pain and despair; their hopes, dreams - their indomitable spirits. We are able to put a human face on them - lessening our fear of integrating them back into society. We come to recognize their potential to contribute their particular talents: to accept them as productive citizens."
William Friday, President Emeritus University of North Carolina, and Board member of NC Women's Prison Writing and Performance Project

The NC Women’s Prison Writing and Performance Project is an innovative approach to the issue of women and violence. Through weekly workshops in writing and performance led by working professionals in the arts, incarcerated women move from rage and victimization into reflection and self-awareness, embracing self and community.   The Project creates therapeutic outlets through the arts and brings the issue of women and violence into the public arena through the Project’s performance group, The Women’s Prison Repertory Company.

The North Carolina Women's Prison Writing Performance Project is a not-for-profit project under the auspices of the Jordan Institute for Families at the School of Social Work of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill..  We receive no financial assistance from UNC and rely solely on outside donations.

Judith Reitman is the Project Founder/Executive Director and a Fellow at the Jordan Institute.

Board of Advisors

Dr. Maya Angelou, Honorary Adviser
Lee Smith, Honorary Literary Adviser
Michael R. Smith, Dean, School of Government, UNC-Chapel Hill
Michael Hamden, Executive Director, NC Prisoner Legal Services
Linnea Smith, M.D.
Judge Marcia Morey
Jacqueline Resnick, Director, Proposal Development Initiatives, UNC-Chapel Hill
Beverly Scarlett, Assistant District Attorney
Gloria Lowe, Director, The Mission House for Women
Stephen Hawthorne, Department of Psychiatry, Duke University
Scott Parker, Executive Director Institute of Outdoor Drama, UNC-Chapel Hill
Norma Singleton, Director of Advancement, School of Nursing, UNC-Chapel Hill
David Smolover, CEO National Guitar Workshop
Edward K. Bridges, M.D.
Lynden Harris, Theatre Director The ArtsCenter
Julie Fishell, UNC Department of Dramatic Arts

"Open it up
The small delicate wound.
Spill out whats left of me..."
-Kimbery Stone, RCCW

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Photo By Andrew Ross

Independent: Special Achievements in the Humanities: Doing More Than Time.