Letter from the Editor
WELCOME to the fourth issue of Exchange, a literary magazine of poems, essays, stories, and artwork exclusively by individuals who have faced imprisonment.
Exchange is a part of the Incarcerated Writers Initiative, an effort launched in 2016 to open the gates of academia and publishing to this historically overlooked and underserved community of creators. Each submission to IWI is given a thoughtful feedback letter and considered for publication in both Exchange and the Columbia Journal. It is our pleasure and privilege to be able to engage with
this work.
In these pages, you will be transported to man’s primordial era and back, led by idealists, autodidacts, and deep thinkers.These works question our nature, grapple with the cycles of violence and tyranny, and answer the call to create with an intentional and driven hand. Exchange is a project of reciprocity and solidarity: it gives voice to those intentionally silenced, while the creators in these pages offer readers the opportunity to expand, to be challenged, and to be moved.
As one of the writers in this edition so keenly declared,“Brick by brick, we dismantle injustice by the power of the pen.” Indeed, this is exactly what Exchange seeks to do.We believe writing is a means of seeing oneself and seeing each other.And in a system that thrives on isolation, participating in this exchange of ideas is an act of love and respect.
Leah Silverman
Editor-in-Chief, Exchange
Contents
Anatomy of a Cell: Four Ways
by Emilio Fernandez
Untitled
by Adrienne March
The Deindividuation of Inner-City Youth
by Shawn Harris
Birthday
by Abigail Cook
Inside Blue
by Linda Dolloff
Tintinnabulations
by Jacob Rowan
The Pack
by Will Morgan
Secrets In the Trees
by James Pearl
The Power of the Pen
by L.T. Henning
Mr. Box
by Larry N. Stromberg
Untitled
by Kellen Stuhlmiller
Someone
by William Peeples
Body
by Abigail Cook
‘Twas The Night Before
by Jeffery A. Shockley
Untitled
by Jakarri Jones
An Interview with American Book Award Recipients, Reginald Dwayne Betts & Dr. Randall Horton
Lifeline
by Kamakazi Mergatroyd
The Magpies and The Wind
by Emilio Fernandez
Prison World
by Larry N. Stromberg
Public Secrets
by Ben Wilkins
As A Matter of Black
by Marcus Jackson
Design Your Blueprint for Your Life
by Marcus Isreal
Untitled
by Kellen Stuhlmiller
Dirty Cop
by Kamakazi Mergatroyd, ft. ChukcyChuckDGAF
Managing Staff
Editor in Chief
Leah Silverman
Director of IWI
Chyana Marie Sage
Correspondence Team
Christiana Deverets and Haley Glover
Nonfiction Editors
Joe Bubar, Donna Lee Davidson, and Zoe Hardwick
Fiction Editor
Jessica Sun
Poetry Editors
Jonathan Fletcher, Jude Misick, and Joel Sedano
Social Media Manager
Jude Misick
Outreach Manager
Gigi Blanchard
Art Directors
Colleen Reynolds and Jessica Sun
And a thank you to Anastasia Walton
Editorial Board
Miranda Mazariegos, IssaTaseen Spencer, Damien McClendon, Jillian Damiani, Zoe Maya Engels, Wyonia McLaurin, Wally Suphap, Sophia Lind Mautz, Destiny Hall, Christiana Drevets, Marissa Yoo, Addison Schoeman, Robert Gold, Abigail Eastman, Caleb Knight, Gigi Blanchard, Meghan Fay, Braudie Gabriella Blais-Billie, Meredith Charlene Aristone, Alexandra Rose Banach, Diana MacLaren Heald, Xinle Hou, Matthew Kimball, Kai-Lilly Kane Karpman, Leah Silverman, Jessica Sun, Jude Misick, Alexandra Kukoff, Haley Jordan Glover, and Liv Waite.