Derek R. Trumbo, Sr. is a multi PEN Prison Writing Awards winner. His creative nonfiction column on mass incarceration, “Never Eat the Candy on Your Pillow: A Commonsense Guide to Prison,” is published with Prism. His work has been published by the Vera Institute of Justice and in The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison (Haymarket Books, 2022).
Derek R. Trumbo, Sr
Articles by Derek R. Trumbo, Sr
Wednesday November 11
Tasked to Dream
These dual essays were written by Derek Trumbo and Agustin Lopez, 2020 honorees for the PEN America/L’Engle-Rahman Prize for Mentorship.
Monday September 9
The Thaw
“You had to have something you wanted from life before you came to prison.”
Friday July 26
Conviction
Ben didn’t know his way out, so I’ve had to show him. And I couldn’t have done it without your help. For that, I’m not going to kill you.