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Christian J. Weaver

My name is Christian J. Weaver and I am 34 years old. I am serving my eighth year of a life sentence for First Degree Murder.

I was an addict and a schizophrenic when I committed my crime, but while in jail I had a powerful conversion—a “Road to Damascus” experience—and my life ever since has been full of growth, healing, and perpetual creativity.

My completed work includes 2 short plays, one full length play, a large collection of poetry, and a book of essays and aphorisms. I have been published off and on in small magazines and periodicals, and my prison newspaper column, “The Pen and the Sword,” had a six-year run.

I won an Honorable Mention and a Second Place award for Poetry in 2010 (in their respective categories) for past submissions to the PEN Prison Writing Contest.

Articles by Christian J. Weaver

Prison and Justice Writing

Friday April 2

Rehabilitation

No sky. No grass. No trees, No travel. No children. No wife. No man’s best friend. No trust. No suffrage. No income. No autonomy. No power to do good.

Prison and Justice Writing

Monday June 29

A Higher Morality

I. A Moral Revolution Martin Luther King, Jr., at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, and facing three centuries of hatred, racism, and oppression, had a powerful message for his tormentors: “We will match your capacity to inflict suffering with our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force.