Edinburgh Napier University

  Convict Voices: Women & Prison Writing in the Long 19th Century investigates 19th century prison writing and other discursive spaces where convict voices could emerge. As prison populations are reaching record levels, researchers and policy-makers are seeking news answers on women's criminality. It is now recognised that listening to prisoners' voices should play a role in the process. In the humanities, prison literature has become a core part of many curricula, including service-learning projects involving student-inmate reading groups. Uncovering historically earlier forms of prison writing and reform agendas will offer new perspectives on current penal debates of interest to women's studies, literary studies, penal history and beyond the academy, since the fundamentals of prison reform date back to and continue from this period.