The Undiscovered Country: Quentin Lewis, Poet
Here in Central New York we’re surrounded by people we rarely see or hear: people who are imprisoned. Hear the voices of poets who are transforming their lives from within prison walls on "The Undiscovered Country: Voices Over the Wall" with your host Michael Rhynes.
Copies of a hand-bound chapbook featuring Quentin's poems can be purchased in our webstore. 50% of proceeds of the sale of the book will be sent to Quentin. The book's cover and title page were hand-printed on an antique letter-press in collaboration with Caleb Harrington at the Ithaca Generator. The bindings were sown by the staff at Sew Green.
In this episode we meet Quentin Lewis who is fighting his conviction while locked up at Wende Correctional in Western New York. Hear his poems. And listen as he joins Michael in conversation about writing in prison, Quentin’s work as a jailhouse lawyer, and the burden of being imprisoned while maintaining one’s innocence.
Listen above or tune in to "The Undiscovered Country” Tuesday, March 25 at 5pm, or Friday, March 28 at 5pm right here on WRFI.
Hamlet calls death "the undiscovered country," a mysterious land from which no one returns. Host Michael Rhynes repurposes the concept to highlight the invisibility and disenfranchisement of prison populations. Although incarcerated people are all around us, they are largely invisible to us, their humanity erased.
In the program, Michael engages poets and writers who are incarcerated in New York. We'll hear about their work and lives. The project aims to elevate these writers' voices and restore what's lost to all of us when people are exiled to the "Undiscovered Country."
Michael was wrongfully incarcerated in New York State for 39 years and was exonerated in 2023. While in prison he published poetry including a chapbook entitled "Guerillas in the Mist" and started a theatre troupe. He brings his wealth of lived experience to discussions of incarceration, re-entry, and criminal justice.
"The Undiscovered Country" is a partnership between WRFI, Prisoner Express, the Cornell Prison Education Program and Civic Ensemble's Re-Entry Theatre project and supported by a grant from Humanities New York. To support the Undiscovered Country, please contact Felix Teitelbaum at WRFI.