Appalachia
Appalachian people
Appalachian Volunteers
books
Category=CFC
Category=DND
Category=JBFA
Category=JKVQ1
criminal legal system
education
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_dictionaries-language-reference
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
handwritten letters
incarcerated people
incarceration
jail
literacy
poverty
prison
prison abolition
prison education
prison reform
race
reading practices
social justice
Product details
- ISBN 9781959000358
- Weight: 454g
- Publication Date: 01 Dec 2024
- Publisher: West Virginia University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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This Book Is Free and Yours to Keep presents a captivating collection of letters and artwork by people in prison that highlights the crucial work done by the Appalachian Prison Book Project (APBP), a nonprofit that provides books to incarcerated people in West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Maryland. Through the words of people directly impacted by the criminal punishment system, the collection provides uncommon insight into reading practices and everyday life in prisons and jails while being an inspiration for prison book projects, prison reform, and abolition.
Simultaneously communicating the vital importance of access to books and education, and conveying the power of community, the letters sent to APBP by incarcerated people spark conversations about race, poverty, and incarceration and shed light on the movement for accountability for state violence. This Book Is Free and Yours to Keep elucidates the violence and neglect perpetuated by carceral systems and offers a way forward based on solidarity and collaboration.
Simultaneously communicating the vital importance of access to books and education, and conveying the power of community, the letters sent to APBP by incarcerated people spark conversations about race, poverty, and incarceration and shed light on the movement for accountability for state violence. This Book Is Free and Yours to Keep elucidates the violence and neglect perpetuated by carceral systems and offers a way forward based on solidarity and collaboration.
Connie Banta is a social activist serving on the APBP Board of Directors, book artist, poet, and retired therapist living in Morgantown, WV.
Kristin DeVault-Juelfs is a social worker, therapist, and former APBP work-study student and APBP volunteer from West Virginia.
Destinee Harper is a researcher and activist for education access in prison.
Katy Ryan is a literature professor and founder of APBP.
Ellen Skirvin is a teacher, fiction writer, and dedicated APBP volunteer.
Kristin DeVault-Juelfs is a social worker, therapist, and former APBP work-study student and APBP volunteer from West Virginia.
Destinee Harper is a researcher and activist for education access in prison.
Katy Ryan is a literature professor and founder of APBP.
Ellen Skirvin is a teacher, fiction writer, and dedicated APBP volunteer.
