PEN Prison Writing Award Winners 2012-2013
Whatâs it like to travel on a prison chain bus?
The physical reality of a prison chain bus is simple really. It matches its definition.Â
Chain bus: an armed and fortified bus that transports prisoners to or between prisons.
But it is the subjective experience of riding on a chain bus that better defines what it is, even though itâs more difficult to pin down and differs for each individualâdepending on who they are, where they are going, and for how long. Even for those on the same chain bus: itâs a different experience for someone heading to prison for only a couple of years compared to another who has been condemned to spend the rest of his life there; different for a person returning to prison for the second or third time, versus someone young and coming in for the first time. And it is certainly different for those bound for The Island or The Reformatoryâprisons they can be fairly certain they will be okay inâcompared to their luckless brethren being shipped out to Walla Walla
-Arthur Longworth, The Chain
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