JoyBelle Phelan believes that no one should be reduced to their worst moment. Phelan's own story is her best proof of the importance of that fierce belief: Her worst moments led to her incarceration — but that incarceration in turn led to the work she's proud to do now, on the outside.

Phelan is executive director of Unbound Authors , a nonprofit founded to "provide opportunities for incarcerated writers to imagine themselves as storytellers and sources of authentic knowledge," according to its website. In order to push that program into the mainstream, Unbound Authors is creating a network of schools and other nonprofits that support system-impacted writers not just in Colorado, but beyond the state's borders.

Phelan became involved with similar programs organized by the University o

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