Books through Bars: Stories from the Prison Books Movement tells the little-known history of prison book programs.

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Books through Bars: Stories from the Prison Books Movement tells the little-known history of prison book programs. These local, grassroots collectives have operated for over fifty years throughout the US with nonhierarchical and all-volunteer organizing to send donated books to incarcerated people in all fifty states and DC. This edited volume features chapters written by current and former prison book organizers, current and formerly incarcerated readers and lawyers, professors and artists who detail the necessity of providing books to people inside. This conversation will feature four organizers who will discuss the current challenges to this work, strategies for pushing back against carceral censorship and how you can start your own prison book program or become involved in an established program.

***Register through Ticket Tailor to receive a link to the live-streamed video on the day of the event. This event will also be recorded and captioning will be provided.***

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Speakers:

Andy Chan PhD has volunteered and been an organizer at Books to Prisoners in Seattle since 1994. Andy established the first nationwide communication forum for prison book programs, helped lead the fight against the used book fight in WA, co-authored a Washington Post op-ed on prison censorship, and talked on NPR and NBC about prison book program issues.

Julie Schneyer is a prison abolitionist working with Asheville Prison Books since 2011. Julie participates in numerous groups challenging state repression and supporting incarcerated folks, including the Asheville Community Bail Fund and Blue Ridge ABC. She holds a master’s degree in literacy, culture and language education from Indiana University, and teaches Adult Basic Education at A-B Tech Community College.

Moira Marquis is the Senior Manager of the Freewrite Project at PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program. She has a PhD in Literature from UNC Chapel Hill and has organized with books to prison programs. She is the co-editor of Books Through Bars: Stories from the Prison Books Movement and lead author of the PEN America report, “Reading Between the Bars: An In-Depth Look at Prison Censorship.”

James King is the Co-Director of Programs for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. Prior to joining the organization, James worked to build recognition of the value of people who are being held in carceral spaces. James is also a writer and organizer, having written numerous op-eds, and a weekly blog that gave a first person perspective of the true impact of mass criminalization and living within the prison industrial complex. He also co-wrote and presented a TEDx Talk called “From Proximity to Power,” that advocated for recognizing the value and expertise of people who come from marginalized communities. As an organizer, he founded a think tank of incarcerated people who were passionate about criminal justice policy and built relationships throughout the criminal legal reform movement.

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