Paper Chained is a journal of writings and artistic expressions from individuals affected by incarceration. We are currently seeking contributions from prisoners, ex-prisoners and family members of prisoners for our first journal publication. Please circulate this callout throughout your networks.
If you are currently in prison, have experienced time in prison or have a loved one in prison, we welcome your contributions to this journal! If you know somebody who might be interested in contributing, please pass this information on to them.
Attached is an information sheet that can be printed and mailed to prisoners and a poster you are welcome to print and display in your neighbourhood, workplaces, schools and other community hubs.
Details about the journal and how to send in contributions can be found at our website: Runningwild (anarchist collective)
PAPER CHAINED JOURNAL – INFO FOR CONTRIBUTORS (PDF)
The full horror of conditions within the prison system is not widely known by the general public, nor is the reasoning behind how people end up there. Books like this can help to get the true picture across, and perhaps we can then turn these hell-hole cages of injustice and brutality into piles of rubble.
The following poem is from another similar book, "Silent When I should Be Screaming" and was dedicated to those unfortunate women who committed suicide in Scotland's Corntonvale Prison for Women.
Choices.
there's a man
in my bed
who wants
to kill me
this is not paranoia
I know this because
he drags me naked
from my bed
kicks me in the kidneys
twists my flesh
drags me over
broken glass
he's always saying
he's going to do it
especially if I ever leave
oh yes especially then
or if I have another man
he'll kill us both
I'm afraid most of the time
but more than that
I am numbed by his
ranting accusations
fuelled by drink
and the past
I never know
exactly what
I have done
that warrants all this
Jan Coleman.
"Silent When I Should Be Screaming" was published by Smeddum Press, printed by Clydeside Press, 1997, ISBN 0 9523868 2 8
