When I was asked if I would be willing to critique the work of incarcerated, serious writers and artists, I said “sure” and began to watch my mailbox for correspondence. In a couple of weeks, I received my first letter from John, an Ohio prisoner, asking for technical help with oil painting mediums and color theories. I was so excited. I sat down immediately and wrote out a detailed reply. By the time I had exchanged six letters with John, I was looking at a mound that was swelling into a mountain of letters from prisoners across America that needed replies. I mailed John one of my many college art texts so he would have his answers, and I sat down to brainstorm how to best serve the most prisoners with the least amount of work on my side of the wall. In addition to the many technical questions, I had prisoners sending both art and book manuscripts to me for critiquing; others seeking markets to sell art pieces or a middle person to negotiate magazine articles; and on and on. Within a couple of months, it was obvious that I needed a solution, and I needed it fast.

The night after I had the epiphany that I had to solve this riddle, I was watching the Jerry Seinfeld Show. Regis was interviewing Kramer about his coffee table book and I laughed and said, “That’s it!” We’ll call it the Prison Coffee Table Book Project™ until we find the real name. The book would contain the artwork and writings on prisoners. Since the actual handwriting is of interest to students of graphoanalysis, forensics, art, anthropology, psychology, and sociology, we would include handwriting excerpts, where available. If the prisoner submits typewritten copy, we chose to print their original presentation. The cover would be an iconographic painting, done by a prisoner.

The next morning, I wrote the following call for entries to be printed in the national prison newsletter:

The world’s greatest writers, artists and poets are incarcerated. This is a fact that is known to anyone who has ever indulged in written correspondence with prisoners across America. Books are born and stories beg to be told to strangers. The passion of life is breathed into poems, and they reach out through bars to speak to any ears that might hear. Artists discover themselves and push the psyche in repeated attempts to reflect their own pallet from the canvas they dance with. Political activists challenge the written word to carry their mirrors of society to the faces of the outside world in hopes that humanity will force itself to view without blinders and expand the consciousness. These individual efforts to be heard get lost as fragments because there has not been a successfully unified project to put original prison works in one form that is so blatant that it cannot be without a voice. It can no longer be fragmented, but must be recognized as a moving force, a screaming need, and a glaring mirror of our society.

There is a continuous request from prisoners to be read, to be published, to have their work hung and their voices heard. There are millions of publishers and they all have their own games and monetary requirements. The act of finding a publisher can take a lifetime and a lot of money. Few writers or artists have a lifetime and a fortune to spend on this pursuit. Therefore, we have decided that the publishers and printers should come to the authors and artists. We have contrived a plan. We will, of course, need a name for the project that is beginning with the words that I am typing, so please give that some serious thought and let us know the project titles that your mind creates with this information.

So, obviously, we calling for writers and artists to send work that you wish to contribute to this publication in 8 ½” x 11” format. We will be printing the work as it is originally written, drawn, painted, etc. In other words, we will copy the originals as we receive them. Your name and a short bio will be listed with your work. It is our intention to publish a book that has an impact that cannot be ignored or silenced. Thank you for your thoughts and talents that will comprise this project. We hear you.

That was published in August 2005. By January, the GenPop had let it be known that they wanted to keep the original name for the books, and we knew that God had given us a green light, so we were running with it.

Then, the morning of February 22, 2006, I opened my email and found the following email from Grafton Correctional Institution in Ohio:

Please confirm, if true, a prison coffee table book project that you are purportedly working on. An inmate group here at Grafton Correctional Institution has inquired about collecting information to send to you relative to the project. If this is something that you are doing, please send me something that would verify and authenticate this project. It is necessary to have some official documentation to justify authorizing such a project in the prison setting.

Thank you for your help with this,

Project will remain on hold until I hear from you.

With that, I picked up the telephone and called GCI, and we talked about “them and us” and what that might look like. We began to formulate the trip from New Mexico to Ohio to present art and writing workshops, and to discuss GCI’s role in producing their own PTCBP™ book.

On May 24, 2006, we flew out of Albuquerque and into Cleveland. The return flight was on May 29. During those six days, lives were changed and new worlds were created. The Prison Coffee Table Book Project ™ became the official venue for the voices of incarcerated individuals who will help to drive the revolution that ultimately results in reduced recidivism and a healthier national environment in America.

After many false starts and stops, Volume 1 was published in January 2009, and the others followed. As a matter of space, it did become necessary to typeset some of the work so that the book could represent more individuals in this collective venue. During typing, the original grammar and spelling were kept intact in an attempt to not alter the prison culture and language.

We ask that readers seek to see each submission through the eyes of the individual prisoner who has opened his/her soul for examination. Prison arts and writing are considered the new social genre because they are a direct reflection of America’s society. They are tantalizing and bittersweet, sometimes violent or disturbing, but always compelling.

It takes a community to reduce recidivism,

Carol E. Briney, President, Reentry Bridge Network, Inc.