“Justice as Privilege: Literature, Prisoners, and Stars Visible to the Naked Eye” by Diane Raptosh

Diane Raptosh will discuss how poverty, public policy, uneven police enforcement and a ragged criminal defense system have created the largest prison regime on earth. Along the way she will investigate literature by and about individuals in the American prison system, with a special word about how poetry can light a way forward. An award-winning, nationally recognized poet, Diane Raptosh teaches creative writing and directs the Criminal Justice Studies Program at The College of Idaho. She is serving her second three-year term as member of the Board of the Federal Defender Services of Idaho and is the current Idaho Writer-in-Residence.