Bars2Brotherhood: How Writing Expresses the Human Experience of Incarceration

The Bars2Brotherhood project is a collaborative effort between Prison2PublicPolicy and the H.O.N.O.R. Program at the Cheshire Correctional Institution. Participants in the H.O.N.O.R. Program have worked to express their experiences and wisdom through poetry and prose. This writing project explores different themes related to the humanity that every incarcerated person possesses.

In 2026, we published Volume 1: “Evolution and Growth.” This volume explores their experiences before incarceration, through the criminal justice process, into incarceration, and through the present day. Authors were asked to reflect upon how they’ve changed over the course of their lives, traveling from a place of darkness and pain to one of light and healing.

This is an independent collaboration between Prison2PublicPolicy and individual participants in the H.O.N.O.R. Program at Cheshire CI. The authors who have been included in this anthology do not represent the Department of Corrections or the H.O.N.O.R. Program.