Prisoner Correspondence Project

“Building Bridges” – A short article written by Lin Elliot in the mid 1990s that provides a brief overview of the realities of being queer in prison.

“Imprisoned Pride: how queer and trans prisoners get written out of mainstream pride movements” – A zine put together by the Prisoner Correspondence Project (us!) that is a transcript and photos from an event we organized in summer of 2008, during Montreal Pride festivities; an anthology of writing by queer and trans prisoners about pride. Download a copy here!

“The Ashes of Dhalia: Issue no.1″ - A zine by black trans woman incarcerated in California of art and writing, put together for communities on the inside and the outside.

“Prisons and closets” - An article written by Jason Lydon about his experience being in prison as queer, and about negotiating outness

“Risk in prison” - Two articles written by Matthew Jones (incarcerated) and Liam and Bridget from the Prisoner Correspondence Project (non-incarcerated) talking about the concept of “risk”, and “risky sexual behavior” in prison

“Out of the closets and into the libraries: a collection of radical queer moments” – A ‘zine put together archiving different moments in queer / gay history and snapshots of queer struggle (not prison specific)

“The case of the jersey 4″ – A small newspaper about the case of the new jersey 4 – four black lesbians who were convicted for defending themselves against a homophobic assault

“Audacious: the reality of being a transsexual or transvestite sex worker” – An article written by a member of the Prisoner Correspondence Project about her experiences as a transsexual sex worker dealing with the Montreal policing, court and prison systems.

“Audace” - Original french version of article Audacious.

“You Improvise to Survive: Addressing sexual ’safety’ for Queers Inside and Outside of Prisons” – A short compilation put together by the Prisoner Correspondence Project of the first submissions we received for the Fucking without Fear resource series. These submissions were the focus of several workshops and events we have put on with folks on the outside.

“A view from Treblinka Dungeon, Pelican Bay” - An article written by Lofofora Contreraz about her time spent incarcerated at the SHU (Security Housing Unit) at Pelican Bay as a transsexual woman, and about communities of trans prisoners coming together to support one another in the face of torture.

“Fanorama” – A queer / gay punk zine from Rhode Island featuring submissions mostly by gay and queer men in prison, and distributed primarily to prisoners across the US. Features writing, comics, photos, interviews.

“Wiener Society: The think-about-it issue & Issue K” – A queer punk zine put out by Neil in the 1990s, who is serving time in the US. Features personal testimonies, stories, and a short resource list of other zines by/for queer prisoners in the US.

“Thoughts of my liberation, #4, #5″ – Short zine by Giga Waba’min Naguj, Native-American prisoner, incarcerated in the US.

“One Woman’s Struggle” – A short article by Ms. Kebby Warner, prisoner in Michigan, about her fight within the Michigan prison system, about being pregnant, and about surviving her sentence.

“Chairmen of the bored” – A magazine put out by C Knowles and Claude Phillips, both incarcerated, about their thoughts on the US penal system, recent prison reform legislation, put together for prisoners.