How they found their inspiration

At a ceremony at the Otago Corrections Facility this week, the prisoners who entered the Otago Daily Times’ creativewriting initiative New Chapters were recognised for their work. Rob Kidd sat down with the two winners . . .

AUTHOR OF ‘TUNA MADNESS’ (Judge’s choice)

AGE: 50s

CRIMES: Sex offences

FROM: North Island

TIME LEFT TO SERVE: Four

years

How does it feel to win?

Being able to express myself was awesome, and being recognised for it. How did you feel when you found out?

Shocked. And the one that was chosen wasn’t the one I thought would win [ed. some prisoners had multiple entries]. [Tuna Madness] was the first one I wrote and it was way bigger and I had to condense it and I think that’s why it became so technically correct. What has your educational journey been like in prison?

I did levels one and two [Foundation Skills]. [The change] has been quite dramatic. I can see how the change in one or two words and the emphasis of where they are changes how you perceive the whole sentence. I’m looking forward to doing a lot more.

What was your inspiration?

Being there and climbing up on that lighthouse as the waves crashed past, trying to tell other people what it was like, the awesome power of the sea. Did you write much before this?

No, not really. I banged out a few short poems and stuff but

always in rhyme. People have told me in the past I’ve had such an interesting life, that I should write.

Will you write more now?

Oh yeah. I’m a couple of hundred pages into a book. I started a few months ago. It’s about the West Coast, starts around the same time as Tuna Madness and the escapades of youth.

Are you a big reader?

Prolific. I don’t watch much TV at all. I’ll read two or three books at a time. I’ve been reading a lot of autobiographies of musicians: Metallica, Red Hot Chilli Peppers — they all had quite exciting and adventurous lives as well. What do you think of your prizes?

I’ve always liked Stephen King and the way he writes, and

he’s so prolific. He’s always amazed me, so I’m looking forward to that. And I like the simplicity of Barry Crump. I’ve read a few of his at the library here.

How’s this process been?

I started off with a lot of bravado, telling everybody, don’t bother entering, I’m going to win this, to a lot of doubt. I started reading other people’s stuff and I was like, oh man, I haven’t got a s . . .show. It’s been a real rollercoaster. I can’t believe I actually won.

AUTHOR OF ‘THE PLOVER’ (People’s choice)

AGE: 20s

CRIMES: Violencerelated

FROM: Otago

TIME LEFT TO SERVE: Three months How does it feel to be recognised as the people’s

choice?

It feels amazing. I’m a songwriter. I try to write songs telling my stories of my life and this kind of solidifies it. Sometimes there’s a bit of doubt, especially when you come to a place like this for a while. To win something like this for a bit of poetry I wrote is amazing; it’s an awesome feeling. What was your reaction when you found out?

One of the guys in the unit actually said to me: ‘‘congratulations, you’ve won.’’ I didn’t even know what was going on. Then my girlfriend said ‘‘I saw you on the ODT website.’’ Did you ever think you had a chance?

I kind of had an inkling I could win it because I’ve been told I’m a good songwriter but when I found how big it was and

how many people were entering, I didn’t think I stood a chance, really. There are some talented people in here. What was the inspiration behind it?

You spend a lot of time in here not doing much when you’re in your cell and I try to make the most of it. I was looking out my cell window one day; a plover had just given birth to chicks and every day she’d come to my window. I’d see her and I wrote the poem in about 10 minutes. Outside there’s so many distractions with cellphone and the internet and work and people; and you come in here and if you look for it you can actually see the beauty out there because you don’t have all those distractions. Have you written much before?

It’s the first poem I’ve ever written.

Do you read much?

I’d never really read until I came to prison really. I was a pretty good kid reading but until I came here I never really had the time to do it. I came here and I’ve read a couple of Lee Child books, Harry Potter of course then I started turning to this sort of stuff. What is it like to know people from around the world voted for your work?

It’s quite surreal. I’ve had a lot of friends who have been popular songwriters and I thought maybe I’ve got it in me but it’s kind of given me the push to get there. It’s crazy to think people out there are reading something I’ve written here. I hope it shows that we’re all not so scary; we’ve all got that soft side to us.