“Poetry is a powerful tool to open hearts and minds, even in the most challenging places.”
Poet. Teacher. Advocate.
Judith Tannenbaum (February 13, 1947 – December 5, 2019) was an educator, poet, writer, and speaker from the United States known for her dedication to teaching poetry in various communities, including schools, community centers, and correctional facilities. She was deeply committed to justice and criminal justice reform through art and education.
Tannenbaum began her career in education in the 1970s, teaching literature and writing in Berkeley, California. She taught in public schools and community arts centers throughout California. For twenty years, she was also a faculty member and training coordinator for WritersCorps, a project placing professional writers in communities to teach creative writing to youth.
In the mid-1980s, Tannenbaum started teaching at San Quentin Prison through Arts in Corrections, a partnership between the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Arts Council. She continued leading poetry workshops and performances in prisons and youth facilities nationwide. Her memoir, Disguised as a Poem: My Years Teaching Poetry at San Quentin (2000), is considered essential reading for anyone interested in teaching arts in prisons.
After her passing in 2019, Tannenbaum’s legacy was honored through the publication of The Book of Judith: Opening Hearts Through Poetry (2022), an anthology featuring essays, illustrations, poems, and prose from 33 contributors reflecting on her impact. The book showcases the human capacity for love and compassion even in the most constrained environments.
Tannenbaum was known for her empathetic teaching approach. In her essay “Human Beings Together,” she wrote:
“Change is not the goal. … I am someone who shares with others. To intend to change someone assumes you know more than they do. I know more about poetry than most of my students, and they know more about living with regret. We all know something about keeping the spirit alive in the dark. We each have strengths and weaknesses, each have done good and bad things. We are human, and for a few hours each week, we are human together.”
Tannenbaum’s legacy lives on through scholarships, awards, and publications honoring her contributions to art and social justice.
1976 – 2010
Initiated and led poetry workshops inside San Quentin State Prison and later taught in numerous correctional institutions, pioneering arts education in carceral spaces.
1990 – 2015
Wrote Disguised as a Poem, By Heart, and other works exploring creativity, incarceration, and the human spirit. Her writing blends memoir, poetry, and pedagogy.
2000 – 2019
Spoke at conferences and universities across the U.S., sharing her experience and championing the role of the arts in rehabilitation and human dignity.