A poster for the 175th Anniversary of Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861)

Ukraine’s National Poet

Perhaps no other bard has captured the sentiments of Ukraine and its emigrants as fully as Taras Shevchenko.
From the cover of The Angolite, Volume 25 & 26

Reconciling with Violence through Poetry

A poem in The Angolite reconciles with the lethal violence of prison through creative expression.
Edna St. Vincent Millay, 1913

13 Ways of Looking at Edna St. Vincent Millay

Poet, lover, outspoken political activist. Vincent, in all her complicated glory.
From the cover of Issues in the Indiana Women’s Prison

Injustice at the Indiana Women’s Prison

Medical neglect, food injustice, and mental health woes serve as the creative inspiration for poetry. Plus, how many days of work does it take to buy a bra?
The cover of issue 4 of Adventures in Poetry

Adventures in Poetry

Published in the East Village from 1968 to 1975, Adventures in Poetry features poems by New York School poets Anne Waldman, Frank O’Hara, John Ashbery, Allen Ginsberg, Bernadette Mayer, and more.
A spread of contraband from Dixon Digest, Volume 18, Issue 2

My Name is Meth

Drugs, drug-themed poetry, and more drugs in the American Prison Newspapers collection.
Scales of justice

Good, Evil, and Attorneys

A quick look at poetry from a 1972 newspaper published in the Arkansas Cummins Unit prison.
From the cover of Adelante, April 1, 1971

Circumnavigating Censorship through Poetry and Pictures

Prison censorship comes in many forms; its subversion comes in even more.
The cover of Sunfighter, Volume 3, Issue 2

A Poem on Freedom by Ho Chi Minh

Published in Sunfighter in the summer of 1975, "Nothing is More Precious than Freedom..." holds obvious allure for those who are incarcerated.
Front page of The Kentucky Inter-Prison Press

Featured Poem from the APN Collection: Lonely Nights

A jarring dose of humanity comes with the 1979 poem by Reva Walker at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women.