The day before Rochester Reads author Omar El Akkad gave a public talk at Nazareth, he had an intimate and moving book discussion with a group of inmates and Nazareth students at the Monroe Correctional Facility (MCF). The unusual book club was arranged through Nazareth English Professor Ed Wiltse's Jail Project course.
El Akkad met with inmates and students to discuss his book, American War, which imagines what happens during a second American civil war between the North and South.
"Omar connected easily and instantly with the readers at MCF," said Wiltse, describing the experience as filled with sharing and laughs. "One MCF student spoke very movingly about how Omar's book was helping him process the trauma he experienced as a veteran."
Omar El Akkad (right), author of American War, with inmates Tony and Malcolm.
The Jail Project takes students in Wiltse’s Crime and Punishment in the USA course to the jail during the semester to meet with inmates to discuss literature and life. “I think the inmates were really excited to meet and talk with him because it’s an opportunity,” said Bryanna Roos, a student in Wiltse’s class. “Anytime there is an opportunity they take advantage of it, because they don’t get to experience these types of things very often.”
Students are given the ability to have first-hand experience working with inmates through Nazareth’s Center for Service Learning. “One word that sums up the program is, rewarding, with the power of inclusion it does not feel like us vs. them, but rather a class that brings creativity, knowledge, experience, and lessons that allows everyone to learn something,” said Paige Serpe-Miller. Another student in the class, Nick Trippany, describes how it has changed his perspectives. “People tend to have a belief that everyone who is incarcerated is not human, when in fact many of them are just as human as you and me.”
Rochester Reads is a program created by Writers & Books, a non-profit literary center. Rochester Reads’ goal is to connect and encourage the Rochester community through reading, discussions, and through shared experiences that literature creates.
Twig Hickam (Monroe Correctional Facility/educational coordinator), Karen vanMeenan (Writers and Books/coordinator of community reading programs), Ed Wiltse, Ph.D. (Nazareth professor), Omar El Akkad (author), Jennifer Rivers (director of rehabilitation/Office of the Sheriff), and Celia Cordero (Nazareth senior).
Nazareth students Laiba Nayyab, Carolyn Anderson, Jacob Adams, Gaby Aguilar, Paige Serpe-Miller, Tyler Walters, and Addison Freeman, in front of the jail.