Since January 2010, writing inside VT has forged trusting, pro-social relationships with hundreds of Vermont’s incarcerated women.

Our weekly writing circles at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility (CRCF), in South Burlington, Vermont, provide safe, structured, supportive space for women to write toward growth and self-change regardless of education or writing ability.

The program also creates a community of trust for incarcerated women by modeling healthy interpersonal boundaries, equality of voice, respectful listening, compassion, positive feedback practices, and confidentiality.

Research shows that expressive creative activity boosts self-esteem and wellness, and pushes self-awareness into new territories. Many of these women experience the validation of their words and insights for the first time ever.

As of October 2016, writing inside VT is a program of the South Burlington Community Justice Center. Until 2018, we shared ‘our’ women’s writings, artwork and lives with the wider world via the writing inside VT blog;  published quarterly anthologies; and through reading events at the prison facility each spring and fall. These materials remain available on the site, although going forward we will not be posting new work from the groups.