A Note from the Editors: Issue 32
Le Naufrage
Lebanese artist Maria Kassab pairs the roiling of the sea and its emotions with the tension, stillness, and haunting absences of still photography in this visual arts series
Flora Reform
Where do we gather to pray for peace? Lauren Peter’s new poem questions marijuana-related incarceration through disparate imagery
The Prison Before My First Name
What you call me, what you name me, can be my prison. A passionate poem about a transgender experience in Thailand
The Colors Drained Out of Lives of Migrants
महानगर के प्रवासी मज़दूर बने कैदी| When livelihood becomes a prison. Jodhpur-based artist Shilpa Mridul’s “The Colors Drained out of Lives of Migrants” draws on ancient Indian print design to address the India of today
Three Poems
Howie Good writes of a utopia we should question, probe, and perhaps even strip of its title. Evoking images of modernity and capitalism, Good’s writing is both familiar and alarming
Duplex of Silence
Written after Jericho Brown’s “Duplex,” Aathma Nirmala Dious’s new poem is a poignant take on how silence is a dangerous form of confinement
Finding Bright
Are you really where you hoped you’d be? “Finding Bright” is a haunting series of how complex trauma becomes an ankle weight as the artist Jaina Cipriano transitions from childhood to adulthood
Celdas
La violencia no es lineal, sino cíclica. In her photographic series, Alma Leiva uses a nomadic process to represent the violence, poverty, and political instability Central Americans face through their home country and experiences of migration
Inner Isolation
Does tragedy and loneliness make for good art? Labdhi Shah’s finger-painting series seeks to dive deeper into that question in the uncertain, confined context of the global pandemic
ophelia in black
Vamika Sinha poses questions of freedom and confinement through exploring a character who is so often caged by definitive endings
Visitor #60
Latest in our haiku column: a glimpse into visiting a family member in prison. Would you look back?
Plea
A conversation between cell mates, a lost child, and a pastor. Julie Ann Ward's new short story showcases uncertainty, loss, suspense, and a yearning for the what-could-have-beens
To Mr. Suri, With Love
A gentle letter for a violent story. Megha Nayar’s new fiction piece sifts through the debris of an abusive marriage
Prisoner
Go beyond the fence. Claudio Ericco’s photography series “Prisoner” asks what it means to be nurtured in a garden where the roots become your shackles
Poetry as the confession box
Danabelle Gutierrez invites us to read about the struggles of writing and of presenting yourself through “Poetry as the confession box,” thereby drawing us closer to understand this form of confinement
of luck
To turn back time, to yearn for different circumstances, to fragment a family…how do people change, and can life ever return to the way it was? Garreth Chan takes us on a journey where the body becomes a prison
Unravel
Their eyes are their resistance. “Unravel” dwells on the distinction among borders, maps, and identities, creating characters who confront the trauma of cultural and social injustice
Do You See Me?: Writing a World Without Cages
“Stories of incarceration are always stories about race, power, and inequity.” In this piece, editor-in-Chief Vamika Sinha shares an incisive discussion with her former boss, New Yorker journalist Daniel Gross. Thick and difficult like rope, Sinha’s writing raises questions on the ethics and struggles of engaging with prison literature