Geniuses Bloom in Prison Literary Revival Across States
A prison writing boom spreads from California's San Quentin to Ohio's Columbus as inmates publish fiction and essays. Notable figures include Himes and Komer in Ohio, Tasker and Booth in California, with echoes of O Henry and Bunyan shaping a growing inmate literary culture.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
California State Prison Board
California
San Quentin
Robert Joyce Tasker
Oakland
Grimhaven
Hollywood
Ernest Booth
The
American Mercury
Makley
Tully
Preston E. Thomas
Thomas
Ohio Pen
Ohio
Columbus
W. S. Porter
Henry
Press Association
O. Henry
Jimmy Valentine
C. Alphonse Smith
University of Virginia
Chester Himes
Esquire
Himes
Cleveland
Every Week
Red
Ohio State University
Louis Komer
Komer
James Russell
Specs
James Mullen
Will Mahoney
Toledean
Mahoney
Ohio Penitentiary News
J. W. Murphy
Red Book
Murphy
George Richman
Richman
Booth and
Tasker
Huntsville
Texas
John Bunyan
Bunyan
Cervantes
Spain
Granada
Oscar Wilde
Reading Gaol
Voltaire
Old Bastille
Ohio Penitentiary
Also Mentioned on This Page
Charles Makley
Dillinger
Death Row
Jim Tully
Paul Kroesen
Wilder
James “Specs” Russell