Prison-turned authors
Writing is said to be a lonely profession. And where else could one find uninterrupted loneliness, other than in prison. The two main pillars of literary contribution could be found, one in universities across the world and the other in various prison cells. The former teaches experiences gathered from other people’s lives and the latter is the place to gain firsthand experiences by not following the regular norm. Prisoners are great story tellers. Whether their tales take the form of a message tapped in code through concrete, graffiti traced on a cell wall, a conversation through the pipes of an archaic plumbing system, a lament spoken through bars in a visiting room, or written testimony left behind by the condemned, storytelling is an integral part of imprisonment. 1 Incarceration lends itself to telling, and narratives of crime and punishment take many forms and serve myriad functions on both sides of prison walls. A prisoner assimilates into the hierarchies and cliques of t...