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ABERDEEN — Outside the upstairs classroom at Stafford Creek Corrections Center, the usual cacophony echoed through the corridors—the buzz of electric doors, the clang of metal sliding shut and staff voices crackling over loudspeakers announcing movement. But inside the classroom, the atmosphere shifted. Nearly 100 incarcerated men settled into their seats clutching pencils and folders filled with loose-leaf notebook paper.
LC Johnson leaned in as the words of The Idea of Ancestry echoed through the room. The poem—written by Korean War veteran Etheridge Knight during his eight-year incarceration at Indiana State Prison—hit close to home.
“I’m content being in a seminar setting,” Johnson said later. “Writing and listening to poetry is inspiring to my mental health and wellbeing and inspires me to be a better person.”
Johnson was one of nearly 100 incarcerated men who attended the November 14, 2025 poetry workshop led by Washington State Poet Laureate Derek Sheffield. All the men are enrolled in classes through Grays Harbor College, and for many, poetry has become a vital part of their academic journey.
Johnson, incarcerated since 2017, has earned both an associate’s degree in business and a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He said his college education—and especially writing—has helped transform his outlook. “Education has helped me better myself,” he said.
The poet laureate’s visit was organized through Humanities Washington and the Washington State Arts Commission, the nonprofits that run the state poet laureate program and promote public engagement with culture, history, and the humanities. Poet laureates, appointed by the governor for two-year terms, build appreciation for poetry through public readings, workshops, lectures and presentations across the state.
During the workshop, Sheffield read poems, discussed the writing process, and fielded questions from students eager for guidance. He encouraged them to start new poems by using a line from something that resonated with them. A few of the men shared their freshly written lines aloud, their voices tentative at first—until their peers erupted in applause.
Sheffield also urged writers not to let technical concerns overshadow creativity. “There is a danger in not writing from the heart,” he said. “A critical mind gets so empowered it stifles the creative one. Approach it with a childlike curiosity. Don’t get bogged down with technical jargon.”
Although Sheffield teaches English at Wenatchee Valley College, the Stafford Creek workshop marked his first time inside a prison. The experience, he said, left a lasting impression.
“Teaching in a public school system or at a two-year college, a lot of the time I’m trying to persuade students that poetry matters,” he said. “But with this population—these guys—they’re already there. They’re awake and they’re engaged. To work with such a group and have such an audience is a real gift.”
Read more about Derek Sheffield and the Poet Laureate program
