Erwin James, the writer of a Guardian column about life in prison, has died, it has been announced.
James, whose real name was Jim Monahan, was convicted of murder in 1984 and spent 20 years in prison. He wrote the Guardian column "A Life Inside" from 2000 until his release in 2004, and continued to write extensively for the newspaper afterwards, offering a glimpse of the reality of life behind bars and inspiring a generation of prison reform campaigners.
Inside Time, a national newspaper for prisoners and detainees that James edited between 2016 and 2023, announced his death on X, formerly Twitter, late on Monday.
