Author: Prison Writers Staff

Jayson Scott Slaymaker reflects on friendship in prison and the pain of knowing that separation from close friends is inevitable. Prison isn’t easy on friendship.…

Chiron Francis writes about the dreaded ritual of prison lockdowns, when cells are searched, possessions are confiscated, and the few things people have managed to…

Gordon Grilz writes about the loaded language used to label people in prison — and why labeling people in a dehumanizing way does nobody any…

Dwight Jackson writes about crack addiction and burglary, tracing how his first break-in, at 23 years old, led to arrests, escape attempts, relapse, and a…

Markus A. Barry writes about being an incarcerated father and the lasting pain of leaving his young daughters behind, watching from prison as they grew…

The debate over whether we should call incarcerated people “inmate” versus “convict” may seem like a question of semantics, but for people living inside America’s…

As Byron Hunter explains, when in prison, there’s something that happens to almost everyone inside, despite everyone’s best efforts.  One’s connection to the outside world may…

Jerry Metcalf recounts the terrifying moments of a deadly fire in prison, when guards fled through choking smoke and locked inmates were left to suffocate—until…

There are the ubiquitous ones - Stretch, Preacher, Shorty, Lucky, Cowboy, Solo, Fats, Junior, Nephew, Deuce, and Viking. Einstein makes rocks look like intellectuals.

Jeremy Busby writes about a friend on death row whose influence transformed his life in prison and whose legacy continues long after his execution by…

Marcellus Smith writes about how child incarceration shaped his life long before he ever stepped into an adult prison.  A Childhood Behind Locked Doors Growing…

When it comes to the prison economics of prison, you have to live inside here to understand it. For example, inmates use “postage stamps” as…

BEING ABLE TO SIT DOWN AND EXPRESS CERTAIN SECRETS FROM MY CHILDHOOD AND UPBRINGING IS A BIT MORE DIFFICULT THAN EXPECTED. I'm now 44 years…

Derrick Walker talks about entering prison for the first time and what people need to know to stay safe. Drawing on his own years of…

Was Patrick Jones catfished in prison? He describes his experience finding connection behind prison walls, where letters, phone calls, and late-night conversations can feel real.…

Teenage prison guards and the incarcerated teenagers they’ll oversee share more than proximity — they share the same vulnerability to a system that has never…