Donate Here

Letters

A Thank You From the Outside

By
Ruby

Nick Page

Dear Writers,

My name is Ruby. I am a subscriber of About Time on the south coast of NSW. I do not have any lived experience of incarceration, nor do I personally know anyone who has.

I want to thank you for writing to the paper. Your stories are important, and they help people like me understand how fundamentally flawed and archaic the prison system is.

Kelly (Issue 4), your article taught me so much about working full-time in prison, and I felt rage at every word I read. I read your article aloud to my best friend. We spoke about it for a long time. Henry (Issue 3) and Dave (Issue 2), I also read her your articles. She’s an art therapist. ‘This is the power of art and music!’ we cheered. Chris (Issue 4), Happy Birthday brother. You are a beautiful writer, please keep writing. Shea (Issue 4), your strength comes through in your vulnerability, and I hope you write again.

I will not pretend to understand what it is like on the inside, but reading your stories has been profoundly helpful in building empathy and understanding, not only in my life, but in the lives of those around me. I know I am not the only reader who feels this way. Thank you, all of you, for writing. Every issue I am left sitting here thinking, what can I do? How can I help? How can I put pressure in the right places to change things?

Do you have access to many books on the inside? I would love to learn more about prison libraries.

Thank you for your vulnerability, I can’t wait for the next issue.

Ruby

Dear Writers,

My name is Ruby. I am a subscriber of About Time on the south coast of NSW. I do not have any lived experience of incarceration, nor do I personally know anyone who has.

I want to thank you for writing to the paper. Your stories are important, and they help people like me understand how fundamentally flawed and archaic the prison system is.

Kelly (Issue 4), your article taught me so much about working full-time in prison, and I felt rage at every word I read. I read your article aloud to my best friend. We spoke about it for a long time. Henry (Issue 3) and Dave (Issue 2), I also read her your articles. She’s an art therapist. ‘This is the power of art and music!’ we cheered. Chris (Issue 4), Happy Birthday brother. You are a beautiful writer, please keep writing. Shea (Issue 4), your strength comes through in your vulnerability, and I hope you write again.

I will not pretend to understand what it is like on the inside, but reading your stories has been profoundly helpful in building empathy and understanding, not only in my life, but in the lives of those around me. I know I am not the only reader who feels this way. Thank you, all of you, for writing. Every issue I am left sitting here thinking, what can I do? How can I help? How can I put pressure in the right places to change things?

Do you have access to many books on the inside? I would love to learn more about prison libraries.

Thank you for your vulnerability, I can’t wait for the next issue.

Ruby

This
letter
was originally printed in the
November 2024
edition of About Time.

Staying Out Is the Hard Part

By DJ

Why would anybody want to come back to the system and add to that statistic?

Letters

ISSUE NO. 25

2 MIN READ

Recognising Veterans on the Inside

By Colin

We have an active veterans’ affairs type meeting here every month and an outside group called “Buddy Up” that sends two of their volunteers in.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 25

1 MIN READ

Staying Out of Politics and Working on Myself

By Dylan

I’m only 23 years old but I feel like I’m 43. Being in prison definitely preserves your body but makes your mind and soul feel so much older if you know what I mean.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 25

1 MIN READ

How Do You Cope With Lockdowns?

By Darren

I’ve been in prison for 14 years now, and lockdowns have always been a feature of prison life, but I have also noticed that over the years they have gotten worse and worse.

Letters

ISSUE NO. 25

1 MIN READ

Welcome to About Time

About Time is the national newspaper for Australian prisons and detention facilities

Your browser window currently does not have enough height, or is zoomed in too far to view our website content correctly. Once the window reaches the minimum required height or zoom percentage, the content will display automatically.

Alternatively, you can learn more via the links below.

Donations via GiveNow

Email

Instagram

LinkedIn