Prisoner Express

03/23/2025

Join us today from 3-5 for a poetry reading by Ketu Oladuwa, Michael Rhynes, Wren Tuatha, and Cornell University students. Free event & free weekend parking ✨

02/05/2025

Program Director Gary Fine sharing the emotional impact Prisoner Express programs have on incarcerated folks with Cornell Law School students. If you’re interested in bringing your class or organization here, contact Gary by calling the library!

09/10/2023

This week on eTown we present Part One of two of a very special show from 2019 featuring Swedish export to The Big Easy, Anders Osborne, and from North Carolina, Chatham County Line. Nick also has a sit-down with Gary Fine to discuss how reading and writing helps rehabilitate prison inmates.

03/06/2023

PE art show at Seymour Library Auburn NY. If you don't go for the art show, just walking around the majestic and beautiful building that houses the library will make the trip worthwhile.

02/08/2023

Come by the Alternatives Library this Thursday and hear an inspiring story from Anthony Coleman of the Freedom Discovery Project.

Prisoner Express and the Durland Alternatives Library are excited to welcome Anthony Coleman, from the Freedom Discovery Project [FDP].

01/31/2023

Throughout February the Tompkins County Public Library will be featuring art and writings some of the 4000 active members of the Prisoner Express program. Prisoner Express will forward your comments to the artists and writers whose creativity will be on display

“Behind the Wall” Provides a Peek into the Lives and Hearts of People in Prison   The artists and writers of Prisoner Express are on display at the Tompkins County Public Library throughout February. Come explore the creativity and humanity of incarcerated men and women participating in the PE ...

01/31/2023

A New Prisoner Express Art Exhibit will open Feb 1, 2023
at the Tompkins County Public Library. Help strengthen the chain of humanity by supporting the individual links.
https://prisonerexpress.org/2023/01/behind-the-wall-art-exhibition/?fbclid=IwAR1PkQe3-HDt9wamEYUdWFicwPeuETh8jnJHDsbgMLx20KW1nDqtBvxGg1g

04/17/2022

Curious about Prisoner Express and how it all started? Come to the Durland Alternatives Library in beautiful Anabel Taylor Hall on May 10, 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM to learn about how the program was founded by Gary Fine more than 20 years ago to help break the isolation and despair of incarcerated people through writing, reading, and art.

https://prisonerexpress.org/2022/04/story-house-prisoner-express-event/

04/15/2022

Interested in volunteering at Prisoner Express, but not sure yet? Wondering how community engagement can impact your life? Learn more about how volunteers at PE found personal growth and transformation through their experiences in “Opening Windows into Other Worlds,” an article written by the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement at Cornell:

Interested in volunteering at Prisoner Express, but not sure yet? Wondering how community engagement can impact your life? Learn more about how volunteers at PE found personal growth and transformation through their experiences in “Opening Windows into Other Worlds,” an article written by the Ei...

04/13/2022

The possibilities of a community-engaged experience

03/18/2022

PE's 25th Poetry Anthology by Kimberly V is now published! It is available to read here: https://prisonerexpress.org/2022/03/poetry-anthology-25-melancholy-love-and-lessons/

This time the topics range from love and hope to heartbreak and loneliness. If you are curious about the perspectives and thoughts of prisoners or have an interest in poetry, this is an excellent source to help you peer into their world and appreciate their creativity and passion in writing!

Kimberly did a great job putting this collection together and I really encourage you to read this edition, but if you're not convinced, here is a piece from the anthology:

I Dream of Houses by Bradley Porter

I dream, of houses
On water’s edge
At the moment of balance
Between this day and the next

Of roadtrips rolling
Through unseen worlds of New
The miracle
Scrolling past my passive God’s eye

I dream of free breath
Labored
In some treasured exercise all of my own
Making

I dream of a sense of leaving
An endless origami unfolding in my open hand
A packing and unpacking of myself

Our 25th Poetry Anthology: Melancholy, Love, and Lessons by Kimberly V is available for download here. Do you ever wonder what incarcerated individuals think about? Those mysterious thoughts are what I’ve been able to observe while constructing this 25th Poetry Anthology by Prisoner Express. When ...