What we do: We provide free subscriptions to incarcerated individuals in the US who request them. For $3.50 we can send you an assortment of back issues and for $3.00 we can send you a pocket Slingshot Organizer. If you send money or stamps please write $ on the envelope. Not all prisons allow these materials so please make sure yours does before ordering so it doesn’t get rejected. We do accept submissions of art and articles from incarcerated subscribers. If you submit art, please write ART on the envelope. If you submit an article please write ARTICLE on the envelope. We don’t publish poetry or fiction, and only run personal narratives or stories about your case if they are framed within radical analysis. We can only publish a fraction of what we receive. If you’re okay with us editing your article/art without your input please say so when you submit.
What we don’t do: we are unable to provide penpals, legal aid/advice, financial assistance, literature besides Slingshot, or respond to requests for other kinds of help. Usually, we can’t even personally write you back, though we read your words and appreciate the thoughts and stories you share. We cannot use JPay or other inmate email services. Unless otherwise noted, the addresses associated with zines we review or radical spaces listed are unlikely to be able to respond to prisoner correspondence.
Other resources:
You can get a free resource directory and ordering guidelines for receiving free books from:
Prisoner Literature Project
C/O Bound Together Bookstore
1369 Haight St.
San Francisco, CA 94117
They don’t give legal advice or pen pal services, but you can find out about those sort of things from:
Prison Activist Resource Center
P.O. Box 70447
Oakland, CA 94612
Any defendant facing felony charges can request a free copy of The Criminal Legal System for Radicals ‘zine from Tilted Scales Collective at c/o PARC (same address as above)
Comrades on the outside:
We receive 5-10 letters from incarcerated folks every day. We welcome help reading this mountain of mail and processing subscription requests!