I teach literature inside prisons. My students are serious, observant, and purposeful readers. They light up with books. When one looked at the cover of Dwayne Betts’ memoir A Question of Freedom, he said, "I can't wait to show the…
Category: Miscellaneous
How Much Does It Cost to Read a Free Book on a Free Tablet?
"War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength." So goes the official slogan of George Orwell’s Oceania, a hyper-surveillance-based police state underpinned by the illogic of doublethink. Defined in 1984 as “the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in…
America’s Largest Book Ban Is Behind Bars
Join the Appalachian Prison Book Project and PEN America during Banned Books Week 2019 to learn more about censorship and banned books in prison. A Rise in Prison Censorship Departments of Corrections (DOCs) often claim that book bans and book…
Prison Reform: Growth and Autonomy Through Education
Prison reform has a long and complicated history. Reform is often defined as how people come out of prison “changed” and with a sense of autonomy (or even freedom), while others remain the same as before they went in. Prison…
Design by WVU Student and Incarcerated Artist
APBP intern Kristin, a student at WVU, and Maruice, an incarcerated artist, worked together to create a drawing that represents many of our organization's core values. A book, to represent education; a key, to represent freedom; mountains, to represent Appalachia;…
Quote from a 2018 Letter
Thanks to Underground Printing!
We are excited to announce a new co-sponsor of the APBP Student Organization's Walk for Justice! Underground Printing is helping to create our first-ever t-shirts. Thank you, Underground Printing! https://undergroundshirts.com/…/custom-t-shirt-printing-mor…
Books make time move a little faster
As the semester draws to a close, I wanted to share some of the many lessons I’ve learned during my time at APBP: One book can change the course of a person’s life. Letter after letter describes the impact of…
Emma Harrison named Truman Scholar!
WVU Junior Emma Harrison has been named a Truman Scholar! Emma was a student in Katy Ryan's WVU Inside-Out class (Justice and Literature) in the fall of 2017. She is dedicated to higher education in prison and will be doing an…
letter sorting
On Sept. 22, 2017, APBP sorted through the letters we have received over the past decade! This is step-one in our plan to create a digital archives.