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So far Prison Writers Staff has created 263 blog entries.

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-26T11:55:52-05:00Bizarre or Funny, Daily Survival, Featured Article|

THE SECRET GUIDE TO PRISON TATTOOS — FROM A PRISON TATTOO ARTIST

I was a tattoo artist for years, even though it’s not allowed in prison. It’s the most lucrative hustle in prison that doesn't involve drugs or body-cavities. You can make about $20 an hour,

By Chris Dankovich

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-24T10:50:43-05:00Childhood|

Ask Yourself: After a Childhood Like This, Would YOU Be In Prison?

Living in a household ruled by addiction, there were many nights spent with hunger as my friend. I would open the refrigerator only to find some moldy cheese and an empty gallon of a milk jug filled with water.

By Fontaine Baker

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-22T13:10:00-05:00Reform & Reentry|

It’s A Proven No-Brainer: Educate Prisoners, Reduce Crime

The study also showed that the release of 1,000 prisoners who had earned bachelor degrees while in prison would save Texas $59,000,000 yearly.

By Ed Lyon

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-22T13:13:13-05:00Daily Survival, Going to Prison, Violence & Corruption|

Life in Prison When Prison Gangs Run the Show

Most people join gangs just to be accepted or needed. Or they want the feeling that they’re someone important. Or they want to be a part of something because they really had no real friends growing up.

By Antwan Johnson

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-22T09:25:46-05:00Fellow Inmates, Going to Prison, Hope & Change, Juveniles in Prison|

The Miracle Man Who Gave My Worthless Life New Meaning

I kind of figured I was destined for prison. I'm dead serious. I was born a realist and knew that the life I was born into meant there was little to no hope for a prosperous future. When I was [...]

By Nickolas Laumann

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-20T16:40:29-05:00Daily Survival, Lifers & Solitary|

15 Years In Solitary Confinement And Look At Me Now

About a week after Thanksgiving of 2004, I stabbed a prison guard when I was at the Barrington Unit, located between Houston and Galveston, and got an additional 99 year sentence for that assault. I spent the next fifteen [...]

By J.S. Slaymaker

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-06T11:56:42-05:00Editor's Choice, Reform & Reentry|

Will I Die of Coronavirus Before My Release Date in 100 Days?

I hope not to die in the next 145 days. Unfortunately, the possibility of death remains real. In the event of my demise, I ask that my story be told as an example of everything we have gotten wrong with mass incarceration policies. And that my death not be in vain, but serve as a rally cry for those seeking to repair a broken system that routinely discounts the lives of black and brown people.

By Benny Hernandez

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-12T07:21:37-05:00Childhood, Featured Article, Juveniles in Prison|

Heather D’Aoust Was Raped at Fourteen, Weeks Before Killing Her Mother

We went to the room. He had a pipe and some alcohol. We smoked. We drank. I talked. He listened. We ended up laughing. Next thing you know we were having sex. I was on my back, legs on his shoulders. It was consensual. It was fine.

By Heather D'Aoust

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-15T08:10:40-05:00Editor's Choice, Race, Violence & Corruption|

Why Some White, Rural Prison Guards Hate Urban Blacks

We face pure uncut racism everyday we wake up. We deal with these correctional officers every day, many of us trying to respect them, knowing deep down in our hearts that they don't like blacks. They haven't even been around a lot of black people before. There are little subtle things they do.

By Antwan Johnson

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-20T16:42:06-05:00Editor's Choice, Hope & Change|

Writers Say Thanks to Prison Writers! (and Loen)

They made a journalist out of me. And that, my friends, is something of extreme significance. I came to prison with an eight grade education. I have a thriving writing career now. I owe it all to Prison Writers and Loen for believing in me.

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-06T11:55:59-05:00Childhood, Lifers & Solitary|

Here’s What Happens When You Grow Up in Prison

The reality is, prison has in fact made me worse than who I was before I came here. It has made me shallow and cold, like winter. It has made me recognize anger, loneliness, hate, and despair -- as everyday feelings. Feelings like happiness, and love, definitely don’t exist.

By Dusstin Longtin

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-06T17:13:52-05:00Featured Article, Hope & Change|

After 20 Years of Solitary in A Supermax Prison — They Send Me To THIS Place?

For the past two decades, up until April 27, 2015, I was living in solitary confinement at the only federal Supermax prison in America, ADX Florence in Colorado. I was housed and handled under the high-max custody level. No less than three [...]

By Anonymous

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-06T11:55:40-05:00Bizarre or Funny, Editor's Choice|

Here’s How Women Fight in Prison

One day as I was sitting on my cubicle floor deciding which flavor of Ramen Noodles would be my lunch, my friend Lacy darted past my “house” (or cubicle) and gleefully announced, “Teezy and Bri are fighting in the dayroom! Get [...]

By Christine White

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-08T10:23:53-05:00Featured Article, Reform & Reentry|

Getting Out of Prison is Overrated

I’m a repeat offender. This is my 4th time in penitentiary. I’m the “poster child” for getting out of prison. First time I was 17 years old. I did four years. My 2nd time I was 22 and I did 3 years. Third time I was 25 and I did 9 years. Now I’m 37 and I’m serving a 30-year sentence.

By Antwan Johnson

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-06T11:57:54-05:00Coronavirus, Editor's Choice|

Fighting the Coronavirus in Prison — And Giving Up

I watched my friend’s face with skepticism. No one in their right mind hoped for something so sinister. Yet his steady eyes only stared back at me, repeating what he had just said: “Seriously, part of me hopes I catch [...]

By Deyon Neal

Prison Writers Staff2020-11-12T08:00:15-05:00Editor's Choice, Featured Article, Going to Prison|

RealTalk PODCAST: LISTEN to Gabe and Chris Discuss Prison Tattoos

Rule number one of prison: the tougher you look, the easier your ability to choose the person you want to be while inside. Be labeled or perceived as a punk, a b*tch, a weakling, and you will have your public perception on the inside chosen for you… and it will not make for an easier time. So... you can lift weights, learn to fight, practice snarling in a mirror. You can do all these things, but none of them can accomplish as much as getting a good old tattoo.

By Chris Dankovich and Gabe Ortega