Confinement and Contagion: Find Your Voice - Writing Workshop

Credit: Confinement and Contagion

Find Your Voice is a writing workshop facilitated by writers Kamilah Haywood and G.L. Glowz. Participants will be guided through the creative writing process to support their individual healing practices and to compose a writing piece that can be included in their portfolios. Participants will have the opportunity to share their work with peers within this private workshop and can offer constructive and uplifting insight about each other’s work to encourage growth in their creative journeys. Within this safe space, participants will bond and create in honour of their lived experience. Newly released inmates requiring programming hours are encouraged to sign up. Priority will be given to previously-convicted artists, entertainers and/or writers.

Confinement and Contagion: COVID-19 & Health in the Prison System is an exhibition for people affected by the prison system to share their work and stories. The exhibition, along with participatory workshops, will bring to light these individuals’ vulnerability to physical and mental illnesses. Learn more.

Confinement and Contagion: COVID-19 and Health in the Prison System and associated events deal with difficult subject matter including: mental health challenges, addiction, trauma/abuse, racism, violence, and trafficking of youth. Please practice self-care and self-protection when interacting with the exhibition and associated events. If you find something challenging or need support, reach out to someone you trust, like a friend, family member, counsellor, Elder or other people who may be in your support system.

Kamilah Haywood is a BIPOC Queer Non-Binary writer, screenwriter, and music entertainment manager based in Toronto. They are the co-founder of the Chuuch Live Show, W.A.R Productions, and the International Writing workshop, and creator and panelist of the Urban Fiction Writing workshop with Kya Publishing and Toronto Public Library. Haywood is a 4-time published author signed to Canadian publishing company Kya Publishing. Their releases include Concrete Jungle, Diamond in the Rough, the last of the trilogy Diamond in the Rough Part 2, and their latest release The Hidden Track based on human trafficking in Canada. They are currently working on a fifth novel. Haywood co-founded The Chuuch (church) Live Show in 2020 due to the pandemic to give BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and Women artists, producers, directors, teachers, mental wellness workers, and entrepreneurs a platform to spread awareness in their community on IG Live. Haywood has been featured in a myriad of reading series, book expos and festivals, writing conferences, and workshops, including the Toronto Urban Book Expo, Naked Heart: The LGBTQ Festival of Words, and Black History Month events with Toronto Public Library.

IG: @kwoodz29, @canadian_author, @chuuchliveshow
Twitter: @KamilahHaywood
FB: Kamilah Haywood

Gloria a.k.a. G.L. Glowz has been a dedicated short story writer for 20 years and has written poetry for 10 years. She is an author of two self published books- ‘A Kintsugi Memoir’ and ‘Hood Chronicles’. Her writing reflects on her personal experience and the lives of people surrounding her. Also passionate about building relationships with different communities, she has been an active member in community engagements across the GTA since 2010. As of 2021, Gloria has become a reporter for the Toronto Caribbean News and had her poetry be showcased in the newspaper from 2020.

Exhibit
Opening Reception
Informational Workshop

Confinement and Contagion is presented in partnership as part of Myseum Intersections 2022. This project is led by Defne Inceoglu and Revital Weiss, with contributions from PASAN, Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project, and Literal Change.

Defne Inceoglu, MMSt., is a museum professional, researcher and project coordinator. They have led major research projects at the Royal Ontario Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto and the Textile Museum of Canada. They volunteer as a literacy tutor and are an active member in political and organizing circles in Parkdale, their neighbourhood.

Revital Weiss, BES, MMSt, is a public program coordinator, arts educator, and former urban planner who is passionate about decolonizing institutionalized spaces through policy, engagement, and the arts. She has held education and public engagement positions at organizations including the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington, FENTSTER Gallery, and the Koffler Gallery.

IG: @confinementandcontagion
Website: confinementandcontagion.ca

PASAN (Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network) is a community-based prisoner health and harm reduction organization that provides support, education and advocacy to prisoners and ex-prisoners across Canada. We strive to provide community development, education and support to prisoners and ex-prisoners provincially in Ontario and federally regarding HIV, Hepatitis C (HCV) and around whole health and harm reduction. PASAN formed in 1991 as a grassroots response to HIV in the Canadian prison system. Today, PASAN is the only community-based organization in Canada exclusively providing HIV and HCV prevention, education and support services to prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families.

Twitter: @pasan_to
Instagram: @prisonharmreduction
Facebook: Prison Harm Reduction
Website: www.pasan.org/

Toronto Prisoners’ Rights Project (TPRP) is an organization of former prisoners, people with loved ones inside, front-line workers, researchers, artists, educators, and students working for prisoner justice and abolition. TPRP engages in direct action, public education and mutual aid to shed light on the harms of incarceration, connect prisoners to support, and build alternative forms of justice rooted in community care and accountability.

Twitter: @letstalkjails
Instagram: @torontoprisonersrightsproject
Facebook: Toronto Prisoners Rights Project
Website: www.torontoprisonersrightsproject.org/

Literal Change is all about providing a positive academic setting for people who have struggled in the mainstream classroom. We work specifically to improve the literacy levels of communities and populations who have experienced limited access to educational supports and alternative learning strategies. Our team is made up of individuals from various walks of life and backgrounds. We have an understanding of the barriers that are being faced in vulnerable Toronto communities. We feel that everyone has a right to access education, and that with effective strategies and supports, individuals will be able to reach their career and academic potential. Current Campaign: Incarcerated Population of Ontario. Literal Change is currently operating in Toronto’s two maximum security detention centres, The Toronto East Detention Centre and The Toronto South Detention Centre.

Twitter: @LiteralChange
Instagram: @literalchange
Facebook: Literal Change
Website: www.literalchange.com/

KYA Publishing
Website: www.kyapublishing.com

F-You Project
Website: www.thefyouproject.com

Myseum Intersections 2022 is funded by the Government of Canada.

Myseum of Toronto is made possible with the generous support of Diane Blake and Stephen Smith.