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2024 Election Coverage

Bearing witness to incarceration

Dwayne Davis, left, holds the hand of his stepson Jadin Calhoun, right, during an early Father's Day celebration at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif. A program called "Get on the Bus" brought several busloads of family members to visit dozens of inmates at the prison. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Eric Risberg/AP
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AP
Dwayne Davis, left, holds the hand of his stepson Jadin Calhoun, right, during an early Father's Day celebration at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif. A program called "Get on the Bus" brought several busloads of family members to visit dozens of inmates at the prison. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Founded in 2012, the American Prison Writing Archive contains more than 3,000 essays by people incarcerated in the U.S. Last year, the APWA was awarded a grant from the Mellon Foundation and moved from Hamilton College to the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins professor Vesla Weaver describes the purpose and potential of the collection. And Jose DiLenola shares how writing helped him make sense of his time in prison. Today, DiLenola is the Clemency Campaign Director for Release Aging People in Prison.

Search the American Prison Writing Archive. Learn how to submit work to the archive.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Maureen Harvie is Senior Supervising Producer for On the Record. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and joined WYPR in 2014 as an intern for the newsroom. Whether coordinating live election night coverage, capturing the sounds of a roller derby scrimmage, interviewing veterans, or booking local authors, she is always on the lookout for the next story.