When my oldest daughter was born in 1991, the phrase Asperger’s syndrome was known, if at all, to only a very few specialists. It certainly was a new phrase to me when my daughter was—after numerous tests with many, many... Read More
A few years ago, I wrote an article about a corrections officer who was doing innovative things with the local jail inmates under her care. She had this crazy idea that if you care about the inmates, listen to their problems, give them... Read More
A few years ago, I took a rather unusual writing assignment. I won’t say who it was from because I want to protect his identity. But he was in trouble. Big trouble, and was afraid of going to state prison. I had interviewed, and... Read More
We recently reviewed a book called Liberating Minds: The Case for College in Prison, published by The New Press. What first struck me about the book was the subtitle, The Case for College in Prison, as if a case needs to be made. To me,... Read More
For prisoners, whether in your local jail or in state or federal prison, a book may be the only thing that keeps them sane. The ability to learn a new language, about history, or just to travel to other worlds, can help engage a mind and... Read More
Alison Flowers first caught my attention a year ago, when I reviewed her book, Exoneree Diaries: The Fight for Innocence, Independence, and Identity, published by Haymarket Books. What struck me about the book was its matter-of-fact... Read More
Welcome to the pilot episode of IndieVoices, the new podcast I host for Foreword Reviews. The genesis for this came about after the results of the last presidential election in which, you may have heard, many communities were... Read More
Ilan StavansRestless Books Publisher Ilan Stavans, writing in Foreword Reviews, recently addressed the danger of a literary monoculture posed by reliance on only a few large, corporate publishers: Stavans wrote:“The act—and art—of... Read More