Literary Journalism Goes Inside Prison: Just Sentences

Literary Journalism Goes Inside Prison: Just Sentences opens up a new exploration of literary journalism - immersive, long-form journalism so beautifully written that it can stand as literature - in the first anthology to examine literary journalism and prison.

In this book, a wide range of compelling subjects are considered. These include Nelson Mandela and other prisoners of apartheid; the made-in-prison podcast Ear Hustle; women’s experiences of life behind bars; Behrouz Boochani’s 2018 bestseller No Friend but the Mountains; George Orwell’s artful writing on incarceration; Pete Earley’s immersion into the largest prison in the United States, The Hot House; Arthur Koestler and the Spanish Civil War; Ted Conover’s year as a prison guard in Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and (most originally) Bruce Springsteen’s execution narrative Nebraska.

This volume will benefit anyone who writes, studies or teaches any form of narrative nonfiction. Eleven international scholars articulate what makes the work they are analysing so exceptional. At the same time, they offer insights on a diverse range of vital topics. These include journalism ethics, journalism and trauma, media history, cultural studies, criminology and social justice.

David Swick is Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Canada

Richard Lance Keeble is Professor of Journalism at Lincoln University, UK