Prison Writers

06/02/2026

Prison Writers

Journalist and academics debate over whether we should call imprisoned people "inmate" versus "convict" but Ignacio Carrillo says someone should just ask them.

05/30/2026

Prison Writers

As Bryan Hunter explains, when in prison, it's out of sight, out of mind. Something shifts that people on the outside don’t always talk about.

05/24/2026

Prison Writers

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 one officer chose to risk everything to save them. [reposted] Smoke Signals of Desperation "Whaaamp ... whaaamp ... whaaamp ..." boomed t...

05/21/2026

Prison Writers

Kenneth Lyle entertains us from prison with his descriptions of the inmates he knows with the most suiting nicknames and why.

05/18/2026

Prison Writers

Troy David’s story shows how peer pressure and juvenile crime can intersect, when a teenager desperate to fit in makes a life-changing decision.

05/15/2026

Prison Writers

Chris Dankovich reflects on peace as something that can exist even in prison, challenging the assumption that freedom alone determines joy or fulfillment.

05/10/2026

Prison Writers

"The time to worry about your reputation is before you have one," I remember Hasan Shakur, a friend on death row, telling me when I first entered into prison.

05/05/2026

Prison Writers

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 up, I never had my mother or father in my life. I never met my father, and because my mother was using drugs while she was pregnant with me,....

05/01/2026

Prison Writers