prison
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Dressed to Kill
Italy has always provided the cutting edge in fashion. Now, the cutting edge is providing the fashion. Italian women in prison are now producing top-of-the-line fashion items that are pretty amazing: Here, women inmates at several nearby prisons have turned…
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The Sunday Rumpus Interview: Idra Novey
Swati Khurana talks with novelist and translator Idra Novey about the challenges and joys of translation, the idiosyncrasies of language, the inextricable reception of women’s writing and women’s bodies, and much more.
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The Rumpus Interview with Cote Smith
Cote Smith talks about his debut novel, Hurt People, growing up in a prison town, using rejection as motivation, and brotherly love.
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LGBTQ Lives and the Prison System
At the New Yorker, Grace Dunham discusses the importance of Captive Genders, an anthology about the oft-forgotten impact of the prison industrial complex on trans and queer people, recently released in its second edition: The book brings together the work…
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Conversations with Literary Ex-Cons: Vickie Stringer
Vickie Stringer talks about her first novel Let That Be the Reason, her Triple Crown Publishing venture, life in prison, and making hip-hop literature.
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The Saturday Rumpus Essay: Making a Murderer and “Bad” Families
There were “good” families and “bad” families, and even I, an outsider, was quickly apprised of which was which.
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On Refugees, and Refusing to Be Scared
The news that governors are suddenly deciding that they don’t want to welcome Syrian refugees has really driven home to me just how cowardly much of this country is. We talk tough, mind you, but when we’re asked to really…
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The Rumpus Poetry Book Club Chat with Reginald Dwayne Betts
The Rumpus Poetry Book Club chats with Reginald Dwayne Betts about his new book Bastards of the Reagan Era.
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Cook Like a Prisoner
In prison, Gustavo “Goose” Alvarez learned to love ramen. Now Alvarez has a book of recipes based on his time in prison, interspersed with stories like the time when food saved his life during a race riot: “They were stuck…
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On Writing While in Prison
Over at Hazlitt, Sarah Gerard interviews Matthew Seger, who is currently incarcerated in a maximum security prison, and reveals what it’s like to keep up a writing discipline behind bars: Before, if I wanted to write something down, I’d scribble…
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This Week in Indie Bookstores
New York City bookstore The Strand has started selling “Make America Read Again” hats that mock The Donald’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” Toledo-area bookstore J’s Book Shelf is helping local inmates get access to reading material, donating 22,000…
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The Rumpus Interview with Adam Johnson
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Adam Johnson talks about his new book, Fortune Smiles, fiction and voice, veterans and defectors, solar-powered robots and self-driving cars, and infrared baseball caps that can blind security cameras.