This edited collection of essays, poems, plays, and visual art foregrounds the voices of formerly and currently incarcerated individuals. In these chapters, you will read about the role of literacy before, during, and after incarceration. These powerful narratives humanize the complexities of lives impacted by mass incarceration policies and practices. As you encounter these poignant testimonies of the ways the written word transforms and liberates, we invite you to reflect on your preconceptions and beliefs about the role of carceral institutions in a just society