Description
Please note event tickets are neither exchangeable nor refundable.
Wednesday 1st November, 7.30pm
Backstory, 71 Balham High Road, SW12 9AP
Join us to discuss life inside - and after - prison with Chris Atkins, whose book ‘Time After Time’ tracks the fortunes of a dozen repeat offenders to understand why recidivism remains stubbornly high, and Alex South, who recounts her experiences of life as a female prison officer in ‘Behind These Doors’.
About 'Time After Time':
British prisoners have to endure the most inhumane and barbaric conditions imaginable, so why do so many of them keep going back? Former inmate and documentary maker Chris Atkins has spent the last six years tracking the fortunes of a dozen repeat offenders to understand why the state fails to keep them out of trouble. Featuring funny, wild and poignant stories, Time After Time exploits Chris's unprecedented access to the criminal underworld to understand why the system actually makes reoffending all but inevitable for ex prisoners.
About 'Behind These Doors':
The men I have worked with and the staff I've worked alongside over the last ten years in prison have taught me strength, compassion, courage, and fundamentally, the need to talk, the need to share and the need to tell these stories. These are the stories of lives lived, lost and taken, behind walls so high we can pretend they hide another world entirely. But at what cost? Few people leave prison unchanged.
It's a place heavy with suffering, a place where you will find dangerous, vulnerable, and forgotten people. But for Alex South, it was a place where she also found hope. In this powerful and moving memoir, Alex attempts to make sense of her experiences in prison by confronting the harsh reality of life on the inside and examining them from different angles.
In an overwhelmingly masculine environment, where strength and aggression are routinely on show, Alex's view is particularly important. Capturing the confusion and contradictions of prison, Alex presents a life that is often hidden from the public. Changing our perceptions, Behind These Doors shows the many devastating, but often inspiring, consequences prison can have.
Tickets available:
Ticket only - £15