Gabalfa Press

Caits Meissner, author and PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Program Manager writes about the realities of writing from inside in America

Want to write fiction in US prisons? It might be censored on ‘security grounds’ | Caits Meissner

Prison officials around the country have wide latitude to restrict prisoners’ freedom of expression, and that affects writers behind bars

The Marshall Project, in partnership with Crosscut, published an article on Friday about our author, Arthur Longworth, and the hurdles prisoners face when telling their stories.

It’s important to note that Arthur was raised by Washington State from a young age, was on the streets at 16, and entered prison with a seventh grade education. That context is missing from this as is any reference to the work Arthur does to improve the chances of those in the foster care system.

Silencing Arthur Longworth

After more than three decades in the Washington state prison system, where he is serving life without parole for aggravated murder, Arthur Longworth can stake a legitimate claim to being a writer. In 2016, from his cell at the Monroe Correctional Complex just outside Seattle, he managed to publish a 186-page novel that earned positive reviews and is available on Amazon and at bookshops around the country.

Arthur Longworth’s memoir essay, “How to Kill Someone,” about growing up as a ward of the state took top honor in the 2017 PEN America Contest.  This is Art’s 6th award from PEN America.

How to Kill Someone – PEN America

Arthur Longworth was awarded First Place in Memoir in the 2017 Prison Writing Contest. Longworth Every year, hundreds of inmates from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN America’s Prison Writing Contest, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population.

The Marshall Project is “a nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system.”  Their team of journalists also curate a relatively short list of books about criminal justice.  Among the titles are classics such as, A Time to Die: The Attica Prison Revolt by Tom Wicker and newer works such as Michelle Alexander’s, The New Jim Crow.

We’re happy to report Zek: An American Prison Story now sits among these titles, and is currently the only book among them written by someone serving time.  If we’re going to talk about criminal justice, we want everyone at the table. Congratulations, Arthur.  And thank to the Marshall Project for this honor.

The Bookshelf

Books about criminal justice, curated by The Marshall Project staff.