Right To Write (R2W)

85 posts

San Quentin delays and denies hepatitis C care to affected incarcerated people

Luis Edward Gama arrived at California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi in 2016. While being processed, he tested positive for hepatitis C, but because he had 15 months left on his sentence, California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) denied his treatment. Seven years later, Gama returned to prison and was diagnosed

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3 Min
By: Joey Scott, Timothy Peoples

Prison labor in Texas is modern-day slavery

Texas summers are brutal. Temperatures rise to the triple digits, the sun is scorching, and the heat makes the skin sizzle. Working outside in these conditions is perilous. It’s critically advised to stay hydrated, away from the sun, or in the shade if possible. Incarcerated people work in these

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4 Min
By: Xandan Gulley

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.

As an incarcerated person, I feel connected to the people of Gaza

The violence against oppressed people in both Gaza and U.S. prisons is a direct result of imperialism and the brutal policing

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5 Min
By: Carla J. Simmons

Why isn’t PEN America paying its incarcerated literary prize winners?

It started with a tweet. “I won the @PENamerica Prison Writing Contest in 2022 and never received the $250 prize, even after much back and forth via email, which continues to this day. I know of at least one other first place winner who never received their prize money, either,

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6 Min
By: Alex Tretbar, Natalye Childress

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Circle of trust

Dear Reader, “To be or not to be?” Hamlet famously asked this question in the play by the same name written by William Shakespeare. I first encountered the life-changing power of Hamlet when I signed up for a prison playwright’s circle called Voices Inside, created by Curt Tofteland and

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Cooking in prison is a way to feel free

When far from home, what food reminds you of love or comfort? For me, it’s chicken and dumplings—something that’s hard to come by here in the Northpoint Training Center, where I have been incarcerated for nearly two decades.  Like most civilized folks, we adhere to traditions on

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6 Min
By: William Daniels

‘It never warms up’: Surviving extreme cold in Texas prisons

The brutal heat wave that swept Texas last summer posed extreme risks for many incarcerated people, garnering the attention of lawmakers, advocacy organizations, and everyday Texans. This winter we faced a different extreme: cold.  For the past eight years I’ve lived in solitary confinement, the heat goes out every

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4 Min
By: Kwaneta Harris

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Release 

Dear Reader, This week’s subject is release. When I first stepped foot in prison, it felt like my life ended. What would release feel like? Would leaving prison be like a new beginning? Prison has a way of distorting time. Days become weeks that feel like years. Waiting on

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

COVID-19 is far from over for the incarcerated

When I first heard about the coronavirus in early 2020, I braced myself, thinking about its unchecked spread and our vulnerability to disease behind bars. Four years later, as I remain incarcerated, I watch as the pandemic continues to damage our incarcerated community.  Despite the false and damaging narrative from

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5 Min
By: Carla J. Simmons

Never eat the candy on your pillow: Anger management 

Dear Reader, Prison teaches many valuable lessons. If you don’t have tools in your toolkit, such as patience, understanding, and empathy, you will—if given enough time. Prisons and their staff have ways of testing your patience, exhibiting next to no understanding, and for the most part utterly lacking

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5 Min
By: Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.

Showing 12 of 85 total posts

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