ArticlesJason Demers

  • Non-Fiction

    Posthumous collection of writing, interviews an indictment of prison system

    Rik McWhinney’s over 34 years of incarceration in Canada’s federal penitentiary system – 16 of which were in solitary confinement – began in the 1970s. During the early years of his imprisonment, he was frequently subjected to segregation and medical torture. Eventually, McWhinney turned to writing, and his poetry, essays, grievance forms, and letters both documented and worked to combat the conditions of his confinement.