‘In the media, prisons are always topical, but the portrayals are often prurient and voyeuristic, if not caricatured. In contrast to them is the carefully moderated voice of government reports and other such documents. Occupying a different ground altogether is the highly detailed picture of prison life presented in personal memoirs based on first-hand experience.… Read more “Review of Holloway Prison”
by Muriel Whitten author of Nipping Crime in the Bud. October 2010.
24 September 2010
Guest of Honour Lord Ramsbotham returned to the scene (well, very nearly) of his infamous 1996 prison inspection walk-out to launch two excellent new books, and this time we can all agree that the surroundings were in fact rather pleasant – our thanks go to the Islington Arts Factory.… Read more “Gallery: Books Launched by Lord David Ramsbotham”
by John Hostettler author of Cesare Beccaria: The Genius of “On Crimes and Punishments”.
How many people in England today have heard of Cesare Beccaria? Very few, I imagine. And the same could have been said of him in Europe in 1764 when, at the age of 26 he wrote his short book entitled On Crimes and Punishments (Dei Delitti e delle Pene in its original Italian).… Read more “Cesare Beccaria: A Short Introduction”
by Michael Crowley author of The Man They Couldn’t Hang: A Tale of Murder, Mystery and Celebrity. August 2010.
A residency as a writer in a prison is almost always arranged through the Writers in Prison Network. This is a small Arts Council funded body that established its first residency around twenty years ago.… Read more “On Being a Writer in Residence in a Prison”
