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Prison Journalism Project

Prison Journalism Project

Independent Journalism by the Incarcerated

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Essays & Memoirs

This section contains personal essays and recollections of the past that bring us closer to the writer’s life experiences, whether before, during or after incarceration.

Subscribe to Inside Story to receive exclusive behind-the-scene looks at our best stories, as well as author profiles and other insights.

The sun shines over a wire fence topped with concertina razor wire
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

My First Hours After Prison

by Shon Pernice July 23, 2023July 28, 2023
Handcuffs on a dark background
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

Both Sides of the Law: A Former Police Officer Serves Life

by Tomiekia Johnson July 18, 2023July 14, 2023
Silhouette of a man against the blazing flames of a fire
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

A Lifetime Inside, A Lifetime of Fire: In Prison, I Fear Burning to Death

by Jerry Metcalf July 16, 2023July 14, 2023
Entrance to a juvenile detention center
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

While My Friends Graduated High School, I Sat Behind Bars

by Christopher Dankovich July 11, 2023June 29, 2023
A young man in a hoodie faces a chain link fence.
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

How to Find Identity Outside a Gang

by Peter Sierra June 19, 2023June 15, 2023
A pair of women's hands grasp onto prison bars
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

When My Dad Died, I Was Stuck Behind Bars

Mithrellas Curtis by Mithrellas Curtis June 18, 2023June 15, 2023
Bars of an empty prison cell
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

The Day I Found My Cellmate Dead

by Brian Fuller June 6, 2023June 6, 2023
Computer screen with Learn Coding command
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

Prison Coding Program Helps Participants Reboot Life

by Victoria A. Dennis June 4, 2023June 9, 2023
A telephone receiver and handcuffs lay on top of a collection of love letters
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

My Heart Is Wrapped in Concertina Wire

by K.C. Johnson May 24, 2023May 24, 2023
Traffic on the Schuykill Expressway (I-76) between Philadelphia and the northern and western suburbs
Posted inEssays & Memoirs

One Black Man’s Journey From the Suburbs to Prison

by Jeffery Shockley May 11, 2023May 15, 2023

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