Washington’s Ban on the Booty
These policies are not only controversial; they also have harmful impacts on prisoners, their relationships, and female staff working in the institutions. More
Refused: 15 years as a Books to Prison Program Volunteer
While many states have banned book lists that limit the books which can be mailed into prisons and jails, the unofficial censorship of the mailroom staff is even more… More
Abolitionist Organizing: Brick by Brick, Book by Book
Struggles against prison censorship remind us that information is power and that prisons maintain their power, in part, by preventing the spread of dangerous ideas. More
Jeanie Austin and Patricia Prewitt: An Interview
She described her day, emphasized the importance incarcerated people place on books, and emphatically asked that ALA not forget about incarcerated people. More
Forbidden Knowledge
History warns us of the dangers of banning books, but the effects of information control on imprisoned women are intimate and profound. More
Prison Book Bans, Protect Mass Incarceration
I resist the dehumanization that prisons create, which is further maintained by unjust censorship. More
Filmed Production of Mahogany L. Browne’s New Choreopoem Quilted Steel—Telling the Stories of Formerly Incarcerated Black Women—Premiers June 13 at Lincoln Center Atrium
Caits Meissner, director of PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program, who produced the project, said: “This collaboration is a call to bear unflinching witness. The project demands that… More
Prison and Justice Writing
PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing program amplifies the work of thousands of writers who are creating while incarcerated in the United States. More