For many, art is a pastime: for Harold Johnson, art literally helps him pass the time. In the midst of “prison drama,” he writes, art is where he finds his “serenity.” He puts on his music, begins to draw, and the rest falls away.  Harold identifies as “Kiowa, Comanche, Delaware, and Seminole” and is enrolled …

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by Dorothy Maraglino Prison Society If the local news anchor reported a story about eight women living in a 19 by 24 foot studio apartment, red flags would fly high about the subpar living conditions that might exist. Yet that is how most of women within CDCR live. There are eight women living in a …

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JAC recently spoke with Ann Bracken, an artist, poet, and author of three collections: The Altar of Innocence, No Barking in the Hallways: Poems from the Classroom and Once You’re Inside: Poetry Exploring Incarceration. Ann also serves as a contributing editor for Little Patuxent Review, and is a co-facilitator for the Wilde Readings Poetry Series …

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By Clare Walker, JAC Intern Charles Finney was raised in Macon, GA, surrounded by creative people of a variety of disciplines. From construction workers, musicians, and his dad’s cabinet making, to farmers and street hustlers, “growing up you had to be a jack of all trades.” As such, he has been creating from a young …

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by Dorothy Maraglino A New Approach To Crime Prevention Since the dawn of civilization, society has struggled to keep law and order. Modern times herald “tough on crime” campaigns. Society increasingly locks away offenders and even kills them at an alarming rate. Once a prisoner is released, society limits anyone who has been convicted of …

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by Dorothy Maraglino Homesick in Prison Every prisoner in this room is suffering from intense homesickness. Contact is essential for us to feel there is a life to go home to. Like these women, I have a family that I used to be a central part of. Now, there are days I wonder if I …

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JAC recently spoke with Carole Alden, a visionary artist currently living in Utah where she is building a creative healing space for women survivors of violence and trauma. Born in Orleans, France, Carole grew up throughout the Western US. She first began her art practice working with clay and bronze, later moving to fiber. It …

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“We ball. We bait bishops. We run money early and often. We tell comic stories, inflecting with machismo and swagger the hour when we might be cradling a loved one. We do push-ups in the dayroom and curl water bags for our biceps. We put apples and bread down our pants. We wait for our …

Continue reading Correctional: A Memoir by Ravi Shankar