incarcerated writers

16 posts

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Time confines us all

I’m losing my mother. What can be done? Nothing. All I can do is be here for her from behind bars

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Never eat the candy on your pillow: The forgotten toys

Prisons tend to lump us all into the same “criminal” box, but our individual stories and journeys are unique

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4 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Breaking In: The challenges of making it in the publishing industry from prison

The communication challenges prisons impose on incarcerated writers are now well understood, but what about the hurdles erected by the publishing industry?

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14 Min
By: Lyle C. May

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Sun on my skin 

I’ve been incarcerated for nearly 19 years, and during my time inside, I’ve often wondered whether the sun would feel better on the other side of the fence

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Hope lies in the rubble

Dear Reader, Imagine everything around you is in flames. There is smoke billowing up from the dorms, and the academic building, medical unit, library, and commissary are all ablaze. Picture incarcerated people running wild and wreaking havoc with their faces covered in towels and T-shirts.  Now, place yourself behind the

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Decarceration is the best way prisons can adapt to climate change

When smoke from wildfires in Quebec started blanketing New York’s morning sky last summer, Corey Arthur, an incarcerated person at Otisville Correctional Facilities west of Newburgh, figured it was probably a chemical explosion. Despite having heard about the wildfires for several days on the news, he could barely believe

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6 Min
By: Christopher Blackwell, Sarah Sax

First-of-its-kind fellowship offers system-impacted writers a living wage and support for building lasting careers

Writers across industries continue to raise concerns about pay equity, labor rights, and funding transparency. Movements like #PublishingPaidMe and the high-profile Writers Guild of America strike in 2023 showed how much writers must hustle to earn a living wage. As a solution, New York state, San Francisco, and St. Paul,

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6 Min
By: Taylor Michael

PEN America doesn’t prioritize incarcerated writers, former staffers say

When Rowan Thompson began working at PEN America in the Prison and Justice Writing program, they were eager to make a difference in the lives of incarcerated people. However, it wasn’t long before Thompson noticed serious signs of misalignment between staffers and management, leading quickly to frustration and disillusionment.

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19 Min
By: Natalye Childress

Never eat the candy on your pillow: What hurts more?

Dear Reader, If imprisonment were a legal thriller, one of the most dramatic scenes would be the courtroom as the guilty verdict is read. Mothers would burst into tears, lovers would plead their undying love, and the person found guilty would take their walk of shame amid cries of, “You’

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Breaking the cycle

Dear Reader,  When I came to prison nearly two decades ago, I believed my life to be completely over. Everywhere I looked behind the fences, there were broken people living broken lives. It was a cycle of brokenness. Prison isn’t a fix to anyone’s problems.  But the further

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Michigan prison officials withhold evidence of retaliation against an incarcerated writer

“The eggshells I’m walking on turn into glass,” wrote Demetrius Buckley in a piece for Prism published in August. “I have to hold my tongue to keep from yelling.”  Buckley is incarcerated in Michigan’s Richard Handlon Correctional Facility, where he detailed how officers often abuse their power by

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4 Min
By: Tamar Sarai

EXCLUSIVE: PEN America is both a lifeline and a ‘wasted opportunity’ for some incarcerated writers  

PEN’s decades-old prison programming lacks the organization and infrastructure to effectively communicate with and pay incarcerated writers

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18 Min
By: Tamar Sarai

Showing 12 of 16 total posts

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