In an article for Politico, John J. Lennon engages in a revealing Q&A conversation with former fellow inmate Lawrence Bartley about life after prison and his current work as the director of News Inside, a print publication distributed to 556 facilities in 40 states, in addition to the District of Columbia and Canada.
Author: johnjlennonjournalist
John J. Lennon spoke with Noel King on NPR’s Morning Edition about his article in New York Magazine which covered the impact of COVID-19 on Sing Sing.
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The Story of Sing Sing
In this first-person account for New York Magazine, John J. Lennon recounts how an increasing number of his fellow prisoners tested positive for Covid. And then John himself was hit with a fever.
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Writing Well From Inside Prison
An advisor for the Prison Journalism Project, John J. Lennon shares his views on how to write well from behind bars with some key quotes from amazing people who have influenced his own work.
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Farewell For Now
Sing Sing is going on hiatus. John updates us on where he’s been transferred and what he has in store for the future.
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Ted Conover: Journalism of Empathy
Author/Journalist/Professor Ted Conover talks about his 2000 award winning book Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and recounts his experience with the New York State correctional system by becoming a correctional officer for nearly a year.
John chats with award-winning poet/memoirist/teacher Reginald Dwayne Betts about their shared familiarity with the worlds of journalism and incarceration – as well as their thoughts on restorative justice and a reading from Reginald Dwayne Betts.
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Inside Composer: Joseph Wilson
Opera composer-inmate Joseph Wilson tells how the Carnegie Hall Music Program inside Sing Sing sparked his love of classical music. He shares about being sexually abused as a child – the events that led him to incarceration – and his ongoing musical collaboration with his sister.
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David Jassy: From Sweden to San Quentin
Veteran musician/producer/EAR HUSTLE contributor David Jassy talks about being released from prison during a pandemic – the difference between Swedish and American prisons – and developing the Y.O.P. Mixtape Program inside San Quentin State Prison.
John invites the voices of three men currently serving sentences inside Sing Sing: Self – Reginald “Arif” Stevens – and Abdul Aleem. They share their thoughts on systemic racism, the circumstances they grew up in, incarceration during the pandemic – and the current social and political climate in the United States.