SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — A professor who publishes the writing of people in prison has won the first-ever Syracuse Prize – and with it $10,000.
Syracuse University writing studies professor Patrick Berry founded “Project Mend,” which publishes the creative works of current and former prisoners. The project takes many forms, including a literary journal, a podcast, and a short film. Berry partners with the Center for Community Alternatives, a Syracuse-based group that helps convicts reduce their time in prison, find alternatives to prison time, and transition to post-prison life.
“It gives people in the community a chance, people who’ve been impacted by the criminal legal system,” Berry said. “A chance to be creative, a chance to work on literary arts, to make art, to be part of something bigger.”
The non-profit CNY Arts awarded Berry the inaugural prize at a ceremony in downtown Syracuse on Thursday night—an anonymous donor funded the $10,000 prize…