Prisoners win four prestigious Koestler Arts awards

I am delighted to announce that prisoners who created artwork on Create projects in 2021/22 have won four prestigious Koestler Awards, including a most highly prized “Platinum”.

The prizes are awarded by Koestler Arts, a charity dedicated to awarding, exhibiting and selling artwork by prisoners, detainees and secure patients. The winning artwork came from two of our projects: Inside Change and My Dad’s In Prison.

Inside Change

Inside Change enables prisoners to explore financial literacy through radio drama. Working with our professional drama artist and sound engineer in a series of high-quality creative arts workshops, they write, perform and record a radio play centred around personal finance issues, helping them to develop their financial capability, which aids transition back into society on release. Each play is broadcast on National Prison Radio so that other prisoners can hear them.

Poor Man’s Fortune, a play written and recorded by prisoners last autumn under the guidance of our drama and sound artists, was given a top Platinum Radio Production Award by Koestler Arts, while another piece from the same project, Trap Xmas, was also commended by the judges.

My Dad’s In Prison

My Dad’s In Prison is our new innovative storytelling project that promotes understanding of having a parent in prison. Working under the guidance of our professional writer and visual artist, prisoners collaboratively devise a children’s book, which they illustrate using collage. This simply and sensitively explores having a parent in prison, promoting understanding and reassurance. 

“I think the project has had an impact on us all. A lot of people haven’t shown it, because you go back to your pad at night and you reflect on everything. My children think I’m working away so for me, this book means a lot because when they grow up, I can actually sit and explain what we did and how we did it. It’s going to be easier for me to tell them about my time in prison.”

Kieran, My Dad’s In Prison participant

The Anthology that the prisoners created in November 2021, with the support of Create’s writer and visual artist was given a Silver Award, and the project itself secured a Bronze Award. I’m delighted to say you can scroll through the book below, and also listen to Create Patron Erwin James read a selection of the pieces.

At Create we are committed to giving prisoners a chance to express themselves creatively and be heard. By taking part in our projects, they build confidence and hope, reconnect with loved ones, and learn crucial new skills to help them when they are released. It is truly rewarding and inspiring to see their work recognised with these Koestler Awards; it’s the icing on the cake.

As ever, I am hugely grateful to the funders, artists and Create staff team for making these innovative projects possible, and to the prisons that welcome us through their doors.

Nicky Goulder, Founding Chief Executive