Amy Kolen’s memoir brings together worlds linked only by music

Book Review by Elisabeth SherwinIt is a little hard to describe what Amy Kolen does with her book, “Inside Voices,” because she tries to make sense of two very different worlds: one a prison, one a hospital.But she does it.Kolen was an “outside singer” at Oakdale Prison, near Iowa City, in the prison choir; and she brought music to her mother’s room in an Iowa City health center when her mother required round-the-clock care following a massive stroke.Early in November, Kolen, who lives in Estes Park, came to the library to give a talk on her newly published book: “Inside Voices:  A Prison Choir, My Mother, and Me.”The talk was given to a full house in the Hondius Room and I attended over Zoom. I have not read her book yet, but it is on my list of must-reads.“The very beginning of my book pulls the two stories together,” said Kolen, who read a short piece.You might have correctly assumed that a graduate of the University of Iowa with an MFA in nonfiction writing could handle the task.But it took her a decade.Her mother suffered a stroke in 2012, one month after Kolen joined the Oakdale Community Choir in a medium security prison for men.  For 15 months, Kolen moved between the two worlds.“I couldn’t think about one without the other,” she said.The prison choir was made up of about 60 singers, half from the inside (inmates) and half from the outside (community members). There was no danger because everyone wanted to be there.“I was happily an outsider in both places,” she said. “I always had to bring my best self. I had to be present.”In both the hospital and the prison, music filled the gap.  But with some differences.“Prison was a joyful and positive place but I didn’t feel that way when I was with my mother,” she said.“I got gratitude and appreciation from the inmates but not from my mother. But music therapy for her was incredibly beneficial.”Kolen had to move her mother to a private room away from a difficult roommate so she could enjoy quiet classical music.In 2014 her mother died. It then took 10 years for Kolen’s memoir to appear.“I needed a lot of time because it was so painful,” she said. “I knew there were parallels (in the two stories) but I didn’t know how closely it would parallel,” she added.And while she was writing the book, something wonderful happened in her world.Her son, Daniel, who had attended a prison concert open to the public, was so moved that he decided to make a documentary about the inside-out choir.The film, “The Inside Singers,” was shown at the library’s event. We could hear the voices. The choir sang hymns to, in one case, an original inmate poem set to music.The documentary focused on a concert open to the public. The inmate who wrote the poem had been released and came back to prison to attend the concert. He had no idea he would be listening to his poem. He cried from his seat in the audience.“This motley crew produced a joyous sound,” one person remarked.“Daniel was working on the documentary while I was working on the book,” Kolen said.But this story ends on a sad note.The warden who had enthusiastically supported the choir retired. The man who took his place did not think the prison could support the volunteer program. He ended it. Perhaps one day it will return.Kolen’s  essays have been published in several anthologies, including Best American Essays 2002, and have appeared in a variety of publications. She was born in Ames, Iowa and graduated from Ames High School in 1969. She holds an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa. “Inside Voices” was published Sept. 24, 2024 by Ice Cube Press.Visit Estesvalleyvoice.com