Featured Article

Prison Writers Staff2021-04-27T13:47:39-04:00Featured Article, Lifers & Solitary, Reform & Reentry|

Ten Years in Solitary In a Supermax Prison

I have a very intimate understanding of the effects of long-term isolation on a person's mental and physical health. I spent a long time in solitary -- a decade -- involuntarily entombed in isolation at the notorious Tamms Supermax Prison in southern Illinois.

By Joseph Dole

Prison Writers Staff2021-04-08T08:12:57-04:00Childhood, Featured Article|

I’ve Never Told Anyone These Secrets From My Childhood

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 old as I sit in this cell serving a 30-year prison sentence for a first-degree murder charge.

By Anonymous

Prison Writers Staff2021-04-11T15:17:00-04:00Bizarre or Funny, Daily Survival, Featured Article, Going to Prison|

The REAL Prison Slang — Straight From Prisoners

Our prison slang list is straight from our incarcerated friends. One of the best lists out there. Period. What's a prison pocket?

By Loen Kelley

Prison Writers Staff2021-03-24T14:44:16-04:00Daily Survival, Featured Article|

Prisons Are Schools for Crime

...officers bringing in drugs, female officers having sex with inmates, inmates masturbating off of female officers, gangs extorting inmates to use the prison phone, inmates shooting rice, playing poker, playing tunk, betting on football games, basketball games, baseball.

By Antwan Johnson

Prison Writers Staff2021-03-17T11:24:56-04:00Daily Survival, Featured Article|

The Underground Prison Economy

Little did you know, there’s an underground prison economy and, just like in the free world, you can pretty much get whatever you want as long as you can afford

By Chris Dankovich

Prison Writers Staff2021-04-17T14:35:30-04:00Featured Article, Fellow Inmates, Race|

A Primer On “White Power” Gangs in Prison

When you’re white and you end up in California’s prison system, you have to join a white power gang. You don’t have a choice if you want to survive. The gang will protect you from trouble, as long as you’re white and don’t have a bad “jacket” (meaning you have a sex offender charge, a reputation for being a rat, or a few other things).

By Anonymous

Prison Writers Staff2021-04-17T15:28:50-04:00Childhood, Featured Article, Lifers & Solitary|

Life in Sing Sing: Letter to My Younger Self

Dear Younger Self, If you only knew where you were headed and the degree of suffering you will endure, you'd stop the hands of time. But you don't, you can't. Your young mind cannot create such imagery.

By Sheldon Johnson

Prison Writers Staff2021-04-17T15:48:43-04:00Featured Article, Lifers & Solitary|

Two Weeks in Solitary And You Go Mental

Self-mutilation seems to be a common coping mechanism. Cutting and bleeding. I've seen many hang themselves with a sheet.

By Joshua Shadduck

Prison Writers Staff2021-02-28T16:48:25-05:00Featured Article, My Crime|

Justin Welch: My Escape From Prison

This is the story of my escape from prison in 2010. What you're about to read is 100% true and you can look it up online.

By Justin Welch

Prison Writers Staff2020-12-20T08:58:54-05:00Featured Article, Lifers & Solitary|

Kenneth Foster: I Survived Death Row

Once upon a time I was a Death Row inmate, Level 3. What that means is I was the residue at the bottom of the barrel. There is absolutely nothing below that in the world we call PRISON except one [...]

By Kenneth Foster

Prison Writers Staff2020-05-24T19:23:54-04:00Featured Article, Lifers & Solitary|

10 Tips For Surviving Long Term Solitary Confinement

Editors Note: Mustafa Zulu spent 20 years in solitary confinement in the harshest Federal Prison in America: ADX Florence in Colorado. One day, he was told he was moving to a STATE prison in North Carolina. 1) STRESS MANAGEMENT: Stress kills. [...]

By Mustafa Zulu