Literary Journalism Goes Inside Prison: Just Sentences (Routledge Research in Journalism)

Literary Journalism Goes Inside Prison: Just Sentences opens up a new exploration of literary journalism – immersive, long-form journalism so beautifully written that it can stand as literature – in the first anthology to examine literary journalism and prison.

In this book, a wide range of compelling subjects are considered. These include Nelson Mandela and other prisoners of apartheid; the made-in-prison podcast Ear Hustle; women’s experiences of life behind bars; Behrouz Boochani’s 2018 bestseller No Friend but the Mountains; George Orwell’s artful writing on incarceration; Pete Earley’s immersion into the largest prison in the United States, The Hot House; Arthur Koestler and the Spanish Civil War; Ted Conover’s year as a prison guard in Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and (most originally) Bruce Springsteen’s execution narrative Nebraska.

This volume will benefit anyone who writes, studies or teaches any form of narrative nonfiction. Eleven international scholars articulate what makes the work they are analysing so exceptional. At the same time, they offer insights on a diverse range of vital topics. These include journalism ethics, journalism and trauma, media history, cultural studies, criminology and social justice.

David Swick is Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Canada. He teaches courses to both undergraduate and master’s students, including magazine features, opinion writing, and literary journalism. Before moving into teaching, Swick was an award-winning journalist. His growing body of work includes dozens of magazine articles, hour-long documentaries for CBC Radio, scripts for TV documentaries, nearly 1,800 newspaper columns, and one non-fiction book. He has co-edited two international anthologies of humour in journalism, The Pleasures of the Prose (2015) and The Funniest Pages – International Perspectives on Humor in Journalism (2016).

Richard Lance Keeble is Professor of Journalism at the University of Lincoln and Honorary Professor at Liverpool Hope University. He has written and edited 49 books on a range of subjects including literary journalism, practical newspaper reporting skills, media ethics, George Orwell, peace journalism, the coverage of US/UK militarism and the secret state, investigative journalism, the Hackgate controversy and digital journalism. He gained a National Teaching Fellowship in 2011 – the highest award for teachers in higher education in the UK – and in 2014 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Journalism Education. From 2013 to 2020 he was chair of the Orwell Society.