Arthur Longworth is a contributing writer with The Marshall Project, a 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 6-time PEN America Prison Writing Award winner and a 2019-2020 PEN America Writing For Justice Fellow. He has written for Medium, VICE News and Yes! Magazine. His work has been presented onstage by renowned literary figures Francine Prose, Junot Diaz and rapper/poet Talib Kweli. And he is the author of Zek: An American Prison Story (Gabalfa Press, 2016). However, Arthur didn’t always write. He grew up in the foster care system. That is to say, Washington State raised him in its archipelago of infamous boys’ homes, including one the Seattle Time’s dubbed a “house of horrors.” The State turned him out onto the streets at 16 years old without an education, job training, or money. He has a Life Without Parole sentence and has been incarcerated for 35 years.
Arthur Longworth
Articles by Arthur Longworth
How to Kill Someone
You had no knowledge of receiving homes, group homes, incarceration, life on the streets, or the State as anything other than a beneficent social structure. I know because you thought I was normal. Like you.
The Chain
When the guard takes his seat, the bus begins its journey, pulling out onto a road that will quickly take it to the main highway. The internal lights go out, bringing darkness to the compartment you are in. It’s the moment when those who don’t know better relax. But the experienced remain alert, ready.
Walla Walla IMU
The bread is moving. A small piece broken off of what was pushed through the narrow cuffport to me earlier that morning. A horde of tiny red ants have surrounded it, are beneath it, hefting it up on little ant shoulders as they struggle to carry it back to where they live, a crack in