Hummingbird in Underworld

Teaching in a Men’s Prison, A Memoir

by Deborah Tobola

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Pub Date Jul 23 2019 | Archive Date Jun 02 2019

Biographies & Memoirs

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Description

At the age of forty-five, Deborah Tobola returns to her birthplace, San Luis Obispo, to work in the very prison her father worked in when he was a student at Cal Poly. But she’s not wearing a uniform as he did; she’s there to teach creative writing and manage the prison’s arts program—a dream job.

As she creates a theatre program for prisoners, Tobola finds plenty of drama off the stage as well. Inside the razor wire she finds a world frozen in the ’50s, with no contact with the outside except by telephone; officers who think prisoners don’t deserve programs; bureaucrats who want to cut arts funding; and inmates who steal, or worse. But she loves engaging prisoners in the arts and helping them discover their voices: men like Opie, the gentleman robber; Razor, the roughneck who subscribes to The New Yorker; charismatic Green Eyes, who really has blue eyes; Doo Wop, a singer known for the desserts he creates from prison fare.

Alternating between tales of creating drama in prison and Tobola’s own story, Hummingbird in Underworld takes readers on an unforgettable literary journey—one that is frank, funny, and fascinating.

A Note From the Publisher

DEBORAH TOBOLA is a poet, playwright and co-author of a children’s book. Her work has earned four Pushcart Prize nominations, three Academy of American Poets awards and a Children’s Choice Book Award. Tobola graduated with high honors from the University of Montana in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona in 1990. She has worked as a journalist, legislative aide and adjunct English faculty member in Alaska and California.
Tobola began teaching creative writing in California prisons in 1992, taking the job of Institution Artist Facilitator at the California Men’s Colony in 2000. Tobola retired from the Department of Corrections at the end of 2008 to begin Poetic Justice Project, the country’s first theatre company created for formerly incarcerated actors, where she serves as artistic director. Tobola returned to prison work three years ago and currently teaches creative writing and theatre at the California Men’s Colony. She lives in Santa Maria, California.

Advance Praise

“Deborah Tobola is a change agent, a visionary pioneer in the field of arts in corrections in the United States. Her stunning memoir skillfully weaves her family’s story with her professional life, delivering a lucid, up close, and deeply personal view of bringing art a la carte into the belly of the beast of prison. Deborah is a lighthouse, shining a beacon of redemptive light, reclaiming human souls once lost in the darkness of despair.” —Curt L. Tofteland, Founder of Shakespeare Behind Bars

“Riveting! Tobola moves between her maverick childhood and outlier life teaching art in prison with the eye of an anthropologist and the pen of a poet. Much more than a memoir.” —Sheila Toomey, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

“In Hummingbird in Underworld, Deborah Tobola writes with lean precision, guiding us through prison like a kind scientist. This book is about attitude and inspiration: her passion for the arts is matched by empathy for the imprisoned. I was a student and employee of Ms. Tobola’s in 2000. As an aspiring poet and novelist, she is my mentor once again.” —Call me Opie

“Deborah Tobola has spent most of the last 30 years in California prisons, more time inside than the average bank robber. In Hummingbird in Underworld she takes us on an adventure most people would never imagine, from her rough-and-tumble childhood to her considerable artistic accomplishments. This beautifully written book shows us an inside view of daily life behind bars, and how Tobola changes lives by engaging prisoners in the artistic process. What a joy to read!” —Claire Braz-Valentine, poet and playwright

“Like a hummingbird, Deborah Tobola’s story flutters effortlessly from her bohemian upbringing to her work in prison. It is her poetry, and the poetry of her prison students, that "knows no boundaries of geography or language." Hummingbird in Underworld vividly depicts the life of an artist working in prison.” —Leah Joki, author of Juilliard to Jail and Prison Boxing