Literary Hub » incarceration

John J. Lennon on Humanity in Prison and the Sensationalism of the True Crime Genre

John J. Lennon on Humanity in Prison and the Sensationalism of the True Crime Genre

Vauhini Vara Talks to the Author of “The Tragedy of True Crime”

By Vauhini Vara | September 22, 2025

Exile, Imprisonment, Aloneness: Emma Sloley on the Dark Allure of Writing About Islands

Exile, Imprisonment, Aloneness: Emma Sloley on the Dark Allure of Writing About Islands

The Author of “The Island of Last Things” Visits Alcatraz and Offers an Antidote to Doomerism

By Emma Sloley | August 14, 2025

The Tale of Elaine Yoneda, a Jewish Woman in a Japanese American Concentration Camp

The Tale of Elaine Yoneda, a Jewish Woman in a Japanese American Concentration Camp

Tracy Slater on the Strange Fate of Mixed-Race Families in Prisons During World War II

By Tracy Slater | July 10, 2025

Birth of the Jailhouse Lawyer: How Inmate Counsel Saves Prisoners’ Lives

Birth of the Jailhouse Lawyer: How Inmate Counsel Saves Prisoners’ Lives

Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull on William “Joe Writs” Johnson, Law Libraries, and a Constitutional Battle

By Literary Hub | July 8, 2025

When Love Means Letting Go: Jiordan Castle on Navigating a Tumultuous Relationship With Her Father

When Love Means Letting Go: Jiordan Castle on Navigating a Tumultuous Relationship With Her Father

“I had a choice: to keep my dad and lose my way or preserve us like a handprint in cement.”

By Jiordan Castle | May 6, 2025

Here are the finalists for the second annual Inside Prize.

Here are the finalists for the second annual Inside Prize.

By Brittany Allen | January 31, 2025

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

Arrested for Driving While Black: The Effortless Racism of America's Criminal Justice System

By Irvin Weathersby Jr. | January 8, 2025

Lifeline, Cash-Grab, Tool for Censorship: Three Incarcerated Readers on eBooks in Prison

By Literary Hub | September 20, 2024

Ghosts, Seen Darkly: Richard Flanagan on Visiting the Site of a Japanese Prison Camp

By Richard Flanagan | September 16, 2024

In Cold Blood Reveals About Its Author's Intentions"> What Truman Capote’s <em

What Truman Capote’s <em

In Cold Blood Reveals About Its Author's Intentions">

In Cold Blood Reveals About Its Author's Intentions">What Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood Reveals About Its Author's Intentions

Rachael Hanel on Teaching a True Crime Classic to Incarcerated Women

By Rachael Hanel | July 8, 2024

Sacred Space: Why Libraries Are Essential to Incarcerated Writers

Sacred Space: Why Libraries Are Essential to Incarcerated Writers

Warren Bronson on Reading Within Prison Walls

By Warren Bronson | November 14, 2023

“Code words to say what can’t be said”: James Hannaham Talks to a Writer in Solitary Confinement

“Code words to say what can’t be said”: James Hannaham Talks to a Writer in Solitary Confinement

Kwaneta Harris and James Hannaham on Queerness and the Silencing of the Incarcerated

By Moira Marquis | September 5, 2023

How Systemic Barriers Keep the Formerly Incarcerated From Rebuilding Their Lives

How Systemic Barriers Keep the Formerly Incarcerated From Rebuilding Their Lives

Lara Love Hardin on Reaching Her True Potential After Prison—And Helping Others Do The Same

By Lara Love Hardin | August 14, 2023

WATCH: Dua Lipa visits a women’s prison reading group.

WATCH: Dua Lipa visits a women’s prison reading group.

By Jonny Diamond | June 2, 2023

This book club connects incarcerated fathers to the outside world.

This book club connects incarcerated fathers to the outside world.

By Janet Manley | April 17, 2023

The Reader is the Only Place That Matters: On the Metaphysical Space Within Literature

The Reader is the Only Place That Matters: On the Metaphysical Space Within Literature

Former Prison Librarian Blair Austin Wonders Where We Go When We Read

By Blair Austin | April 10, 2023

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