You may have read about WRD 377: Writing and Social Engagement here on our blog last year. This course is part of Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, giving DePaul students and their incarcerated peers a chance to learn alongside each other. It is a wonderful opportunity to create more community involvement and connection. But what about students who would love to get involved but couldn’t fit the class into their schedules?
Well, we have good news! Freedom Readers is a book club born out of that class, and DePaul students and alumni are welcome to participate. In this article, we talk to Coray Ames Hoffner and Salli Berg Seeley, the two WRD faculty members who oversee the book club, as well as former WRD 377 student and current TA Michelle. Read on to hear about what makes it so special and find out how you can join.
What can you tell us about the book club?
SALLI: It’s a gathering of committed people who like to read and discuss books and ideas. We are an amalgamation of DePaul students and faculty and men incarcerated at the Cook County Department of Corrections. We commit to each other, to being there every week, to reading, to being open to discussion and the flow of ideas and opinions. We laugh and tease one another, get off topic, go back to discussing the reading, sometimes surprise each other and ourselves with what we are willing to say.
CORAY: Students are from multiple programs and majors—Communications, Social Work, Criminology, and Public Law/Political Thought. The Steans Center has provided us with books and a van, for which we are grateful!
MICHELLE: This book club has allowed me to keep connected with my former classmates and still feel tied to DePaul even after the class ended. It’s not just about reading books; it feels more like a reunion and a safe space. We get together to check in with each other, play games, and talk about how the themes in our readings relate to our own lives.
CORAY: We’d love for more DePaul students to join us. Individuals inside value students’ voices! They want to interact with DePaul students and hear what they are studying, thinking, and doing. They want to connect to the world outside their walls, and DePaul students’ presence is energizing. We regularly hear that book club gives them something to look forward to each week.
What does your reading list look like?
SALLI: We are open to each other’s preferences and interests. A few times Coray and I have each brought in books we think the group might find interesting or valuable, but we are always asking the Cook County guys what they are interested in reading and we make lists of book titles and topics of interest. We vote on titles and then have the Steans Center order paperbacks for us.
(Check out the end of this post for a full reading list.)
What do you value most about Freedom Readers?
MICHELLE: I find it valuable that everyone in the book club brings different perspectives to what we read. Just when I think I understand something, someone else challenges my thinking. It also makes me nostalgic to hear students bring up insights from when we were in class, it shows that those ideas really stayed with them.
SALLI: The thing I find most valuable about this experience is the opportunity to shed stereotypes and assumptions and get to know people who are incarcerated as singular individuals with unique experiences, perspectives, and talents. Each of us brings our own background and outlook to the readings; oftentimes we are challenged to rethink what we have read and what we assumed we knew after listening to one another. We are developing limited but important relationships. We offer each other hope.
“We are challenged to rethink what we have read and what we assumed we knew after listening to one another . . . We offer each other hope.”
CORAY: I echo Salli’s sentiments. Book club is one of the highlights of my week because I know I will slow down and connect with ideas and individuals. It allows us to maintain our relationships beyond the ten-week mark. It allows us to keep working at building community.
Can I join?
Of course! “Participants can be current students or alumni,” says Coray. “They need to complete an orientation hosted by Cook County Jail, fill out background forms, and get credentials. It sounds like a lot, but we’re pros at helping people move through the process quickly and efficiently!”
Other than that, all you need to do is commit to attending for a full quarter. This makes it easier to maintain the sense of trust and community that the book club is built on.
Currently, the book club meets Mondays for about an hour starting at 11:45AM. If that time doesn’t work for you, don’t worry. The club will reevaluate each quarter to find a time that works for as many people’s schedules as possible.
Those interested should contact Coray Ames Hoffner at cameshof@depaul.edu. She’ll be happy to provide more details and answer any questions you may have.
Reading List
Books we have read:
- Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
- Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolf
- The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
- The Spook Who Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlees
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez (One Book, One Chicago pick)
Books we are going to read:
- The Black Book by James Patterson
- The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
- 47th St. Black by Bayo Ojikutu