A new prison policy blocks incarcerated journalists and artists from publishing their work

UPDATE

On June 7, one day after this article was published, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision rescinded its directive blocking the publication of creative work. READ MORE HERE

John J. Lennon has built an unlikely career. As a journalist writing from within the prisons he covers, he has spent the last decade offering a rare inside perspective into politics, health, and recreation behind bars. His most recent feature, in The New York Times, illustrated how rising housing prices leave those released from prison with few options to avoid homelessness. He’s landed a book deal and a contributing editor position with Esquire.

“Writing has changed my life,” he told New York Focus in a phone call from Sullivan Correctional Facility. “I’ve been able to grapple on the page with a lot of things.” He also mentors others who’ve found solace writing while imprisoned.

But the agency that runs New York’s prisons is set to block Lennon and countless other incarcerated writers, artists, and poets from getting their work outside prison walls. 

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