Writing Updates for November 2012

So, this November officially marks the half-way point of my sentence – which is pretty exciting. My infinite thanks go out to everyone who has shown their support, either directly or indirectly. While I do like getting letters from strangers, I am regrettably not always able to write back because a) envelopes cost money and b) I don’t always have the energy. Furthermore, I’m going to request that nobody send me any creepy/flirtatious mail. It’s fucking gross – if you send me anything containing comments about my appearance or other such lecherous “flattery”, not only will I not reply… I will also read your letter to the rest of the women on my cell block so we can assuage our boredom by laughing our asses off at you. Seriously, sending anything of that nature to a female prisoner just shows that you lack any notion of true political solidarity. It’s also condescending as hell.

In other news, a new poem of mine is published in the current issue of Goblin Fruit magazine and my two most recent articles are available in the current print editions of Iconoclast and OBSOLETE! Magazine. The former, which my partner and I co-wrote, is about why the rhetoric of “ethical consumerism” is not necessarily conducive to animal liberation or environmental sustainability, and the latter is an interview with Canadian painter Martha Eileen about her ongoing fight against the institutionalization of people with disabilities. To learn more about the present and historical abuse and neglect of people with disabilities in Canada’s health care and education systems, check out the group People First of Canada, or author and activist AJ Withers’ home page, Still My Revolution. While I will soon enough be free from incarceration, this is unfortunately not the case for countless people, both in Canada and worldwide, whose only crime is having been born different from what society deems “able bodied.”

If you’re curious about what day to day life in jail is like, check out Mandy Hiscocks’ blog, Bored But Not Broken. She’s also a G20 prisoner, and she posts regular updates on the riveting events here at the Vanier Centre For Women.

International Support

In August we received $110 USD ($103 CAD) sent through Western Union by Christopher Wholers. This money has been used to pay for phone calls between Kelly Pflug Back and her boyfriend Douglas Gill so that they can maintain contact and not be completely separated during Kelly’s incarceration. Many thanks to those who donated as the money is greatly needed and appreciated.

Love and Rage,

On behalf of Kelly’s Direct Support Group

Dear Friends

Two years after the g20 summit in Toronto, my court proceedings have finally been resolved. I feel a huge amount of relief that i am no longer caught in legal limbo, and although i will possibly be in jail until February my heart is filled with joy and inspiration.

While i have no access to the Internet or a computer while I’m at Vanier, my wonderful friends and my partner Doug will be keeping this page updated with messages that I send through the mail.

Three of my new poems are now online at Counterpunch and an article I wrote has been published on Crimethinc. I also have a short story forthcoming from Strange Horizons and an article my partner and I co-wrote is coming up in the next issue of Iconoclast.

Although it is so laborious to write in long-hand with a dull golf-sized pencil (the full-sized ones are, presumably, too easily weaponized), I am determined to keep writing throughout these months.

While institutional environments tend to numb the senses & discourage creativity, the womyn with whom I am incarcerated are such constant sources of strength, light and inspiration.

I send my unending gratitude to my friends, my family, my colleagues and the faculty at my school who have supported me through this all.

I do not need much in terms of support and I ask that people do not donate any funds to me personally — anyone who wishes to send money should contact my support committee (we.love.our.leader@gmail.com) or my partner, who needs money for transportation and phone calls so that we can still talk and see each other (albeit through irksome Plexiglass.)

I’m fairly busy in here at the moment, so I can’t promise that I’ll be able to answer all my mail, but I promise to try my best!

Love & Solidarity

Kelly Pflug-Back

Vanier Centre for Women

P.O Box 1040

665 Martin St Milton ON

L9T 5E6