An obscure trove of short stories penned over a decade in a Midwestern maximum security prison. At first, it appears there is no discernable theme. The randomness of the Wolf collection lacks discipline. Pondering everything from extraterrestrials to being buried alive, readers are taken on a rocky and often erotic journey. Crafted with the heart of an abolitionist using imagination to transcend a cement hell, these stories will make you laugh as well as question reality. Keep reading to learn more about “13 Shades of Black” by August Wolf.

Travis John Wolfkill (Iowa State Penitentiary) reviews “Dark Days: A Memoir” by D. Randall Blythe, the lead vocalist of Lamb of God. In “Dark Days,” Blythe reflects on his incarceration at Pankrác Prison in Prague.

“Them, They, You, and I / let’s all…just please / open our eyes…Try to see / A choreography / in this organized chaos that’s life.”
Click to read more of Rachael C. Hilyard’s (Topeka Correctional Facility) rhythmic and electric free verse poem, “Exist Me.”

The July 2022 mail policy in Missouri prisons bans all physical mail from coming into facilities. Instead, all letters, photos, and other mail must be sent to a third party in Florida that uploads the digital scans of documents for residents to view. We spoke with Patricia, Adam, and Terrell, who are incarcerated in Missouri, about the damage these policies mean for incarcerated individuals already facing harsh policies and inhumane living conditions. Listen to the podcast to learn more.

Trenton Bishop discusses sweltering conditions in Kansas prisons and initiates a call to action for solidarity with residents of KDOC. “We're already suffering. We—we're already going through what we're going through. And I know the consensus is, ‘well, let those criminals sweat,’ but we're humans. We're human beings too. And this A/C thing is making it very hard to function. Like I can't get a full eight hours of sleep because I'm waking up tossing and turning.”

Stanley Wooley Jr. is a prolific poet and song-writer incarcerated at Winfield Correctional Facility. His spoken word poem, “Ignorant to the Law” explores the injustices that incarcerated folks experience at the hands of criminal law and its executors. Click here to listen to or read “Ignorant to the Law.”

Liberation Lit sent Ronald Quiceno, incarcerated at Hutchinson Correctional Facility, a copy of “Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System: by Alec Karakatsanis. He wrote us this letter to tell us what he thought of the book.

In the first installment of Notes from a Jailhouse Lawyer, Terry Antalek from Ellsworth Correctional Facility explains the injustice of placing a fixed time limit for filing a federal habeas corpus petition. “Many newly convicted individuals are not even aware that habeas corpus remedies exist,” he writes. “Many attorneys never inform their convicted clients of these remedies. Often it's too late when the prisoner learns of these remedies.”

I’m Devon Westerfield, a 29-year-old artist from Independence, Kansas. I am currently incarcerated at Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas. It’s been tough for me to endure these living arrangements, and this is only a peek into my experiences with this flawed system that claims to be in place to “correct” criminal behavior. In actuality, I’ve found that so many of us who are incarcerated have been the victims of true criminal behavior perpetrated by a system that claims to help us. I just want to create true change from within these cages and bring about real positive change for those of us in chains. But we can’t do it alone. We need help. 

I’m Devon Westerfield, a 29 year old artist from Independence, Kansas. I am currently incarcerated at Lansing Correctional Facility in Lansing, Kansas. For my entire life, I have either been a ward of the state, incarcerated in some sort of facility, or excessively punished and mistreated by the judicial system. Throughout it all, true rehabilitation has never been offered to me.

Jeff Zmuda and the Kansas Department of Corrections are grossly mistreating people incarcerated at Lansing Correctional Facility. Here’s what’s happening and what you can do about it, in the words of Trenton Bishop, who is currently at Lansing.