By Benjamin Frandsen
CHOWCHILLA, CA – Columbia University’s Incarcerated Writers Initiative recently issued its fourth-annual edition of the Exchange in which two imprisoned Vanguard journalists are the first to publish interview-style journalism. The MFA program’s curated literary magazine features creative writing and art from both current and formerly incarcerated writers.
Ghost, a contributor to the magazine, praised the Exchange’s Editor-In-Chief, Leah Silverman, noting, “(She was) incredible to work with. She was accessible, gave us feedback and took care to hand us off to incoming staff as she leaves for Rikers Island.”
“We look forward to cultivating a long-term synergy with Columbia and the Exchange,” Mundo remarked. “When we imagine freedom, we think about normalizing human engagements. Communicating with one another is how we teach, model and learn.”
The two contributors are also the co-founders of the Barz Behind Bars (B³) literary workshop at Valley State Prison (VSP) and have employed their lived experience in their own published literary endeavors.
Working with the award winning poets Reginald Betts and Randall Horton since late 2022, Mundo and Ghost have developed a poetry-based curriculum in collaboration with the poets and have introduced their books into circulation at the Freedom Reads Library.
Currently, over 700 youth residents at VSP are waitlisted to partake in the program.
Ghost praised Betts for “[s]tepping up and amplifying our work, publicly declaring his support for B³ along with Randall, Natalie Diaz, and Mitch Jackson on social media and giving us personal time with him.
“Dwayne agreed to participate in this interview project despite traveling and doing press for his newest book, ‘Redacted.’ We salute that dude,” he added.
Mundo was “truly honored to have had the chance to appear in Exchange, a publication by the University that decides Pulitzer winners. It’s about more than just being read or heard because anybody can (self publish).”
He added, “For us, it’s all about occupying mainstream literary real estate in spite of being caged and not having the dead weight of our circumstance always have to be our calling card.”
“We were inspired to do this interview and pursue the craft of interview journalism as a direct result of the interview Dwayne did with the Prison Journalism Project (PJP), wherein he pointedly advocated for the normalization of media platform engagements by incarcerated writers, be they creators or critics,” Ghost commented.
“Who better to engage with about the state of carceral media than the man who won the American Magazine Award for his essay in the New York Times Magazine?” he continued.
Speaking about Horton, Mundo described him as “more than an interview subject. He’s a legit part of our lives now, a mentor and an enabler of our ambitions.”
“His work with Radical Reversal will likely set the bar for decades to come by advancing digital media opportunities for carceral creators like us across the country using studio tools to enable audio verticals,” Mundo added.
In addition to writing for the Incarcerated Press at The Vanguard, Mundo and Ghost are currently busy developing podcasts centered around their interviews.
The duo has worked together to publish content in Exchange, Slate, PJP, Open Campus, College Inside and the San Quentin News.
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Heather Ann Thompson, film producer Scott Bunick and acclaimed poets A. Van Jordon and John Murillo are confirmed to sit for future interviews conducted by the incarcerated duo.
