The Anne Frank Prison Diary Writing Project

About 

The New York State Literary Center’s partnership with Rochester City School District’s Youth and Justice Program, in collaboration with the Office of The Sheriff, County of Monroe, Arts, Literacy, and The Classroom Community, was honored in the fall of 2009 with an invitation to participate in The Anne Frank Center’s “Hello World: Diaries by Men and Women in American Prisons.”

In an effort to reach out to prisoners and educate people on both sides of the “wall,” The Anne Frank Center USA http://www.annefrank.com/, in partnership with PEN American Center http://www.pen.org/, launched a Prison Diary Program for men and women in American prisons using the Diary of Anne Frank as an inspirational tool. The program encouraged prisoners to utilize the same means of self-expression—writing a diary—that Anne used to endure her imprisonment while in hiding. The Anne Frank Center’s diary writing program provided those incarcerated with a copy of A Diary of a Young Girl, a journal, and a pamphlet on diary writing and Anne Frank’s literary accomplishments. Participants agree to keep their own diaries, writing about their lives and thoughts, and returning their journals to The Anne Frank Center for possible publication on the Internet and in print.

http://www.annefrank.com/prison-diary-program/

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/books/01maslin.html?scp=1&sq=francine prose tracing the many lives of Anne Frank&st=cse