“Speak out” writing workshop

“Speak out” is a creative writing workshop held in various sections of some correctional facilities in the Lazio region. It offers incarcerated individuals a powerful space for authentic and emotional self-expression through writing.

The project

Led by writer Valerio Callieri, the workshop took place in the high-security unit of the Rebibbia Women's Prison, in the transgender ward of Rebibbia Nuovo Complesso, and in the high-security section of the Civitavecchia Prison.

In prison, writing becomes a transformative act — a way to look within, reframe one’s story, and share it with others.

The space is designed to be collective and fertile, where personal voices intertwine, and stories unfold through mutual trust. At the end of the workshop, the collected texts may be published in a collaborative volume, offering a platform for voices that are too often unheard.

From the writer’s experience, a novel was born: AS3.

Gallery

Location

Civitavecchia

Objectives

The project seeks to foster self-expression and mutual listening, enhance communication skills and emotional awareness, and offer participants a path toward personal redefinition. Through writing, it creates an opportunity for symbolic redemption — restoring dignity and visibility to those behind the walls.

Facilitator

Valerio Callieri

Writer and educator

Valerio Callieri is a writer and educator who leads the creative writing workshop Fuori la voce inside correctional facilities. Among his accolades, he received the Italo Calvino Prize for his debut novel Teorema dell’incompletezza, published by Feltrinelli in 2017.

In his work as an educator, he promotes writing as a tool for inner liberation — a way to give voice to those who are too often unheard. Through his empathetic and narrative-based approach, Valerio guides participants toward a rediscovery of their emotional world, turning the act of writing into a bridge to listening, self-awareness, and dignity.

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