Poetry is the biggest category in the annual Koestler Awards for arts in the criminal justice system, receiving nearly 1000 entries a year.
Our first anthology of poems by writers from prison in 2017 was the answer to a strong wish to showcase more of our written Koestler Awards submissions. Since then, we have been proud to publish 4 volumes of Koestler Voices: New Poetry from Prisons, all generously supported by the T. S. Eliot Foundation.
If you’d like to be inspired by the honest, poignant, humorous and often reflective words of our Koestler Awards entrants, you can purchase physical copies of anthologies from our online shop or at our exhibitions.
Koestler Voices: Volume 1
We continued to see great demand for Koestler Voices Vol. 1 after it sold out. This year, thanks to the support from the T. S. Eliot Foundation we are delighted to launch the reprint of this brilliant anthology, also available digitally so it can be enjoyed by everyone, even on in-prison laptops. We hope this inspires future Koestler Awards entrants to try their hand at writing.
The digital anthology is free to download below
Download Koestler Voices Vol.1
Remembering Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Zephaniah was an inspiration to many, particularly those with lived experience of the criminal justice system having been in prison himself. His words are moving, raw, and poignant, but also capture the essence of what the Koestler Voices anthologies offer. Zephaniah also spoke openly about his struggles with dyslexia and how in his earlier years he felt that writing and performing were not accessible to him. Zephaniah’s struggles have allowed people, particularly in secure settings, to feel encouraged and inspired to create and learn, which is a core part of what we aim to achieve through the Koestler Awards.
His foreword is still as relevant today as it was in 2017, and we’re delighted to be honoring his memory with this reprint.
