Literary Titan has posted an author Q-A on their home page, which sheds light on the Lewisburg, PA, experimental prison program at the heart of Chained Birds and the safety issues I faced while writing it.
Here’s a sample of the interview:
What is one thing you found in your research that surprised you?
I mentioned NPR and The Marshall Project as two news outlets that teamed up in 2016 to report on the abuses at Lewisburg Prison’s Special Management Unit (SMU). CHAINED BIRDS reveals similar and previously unknown abuses but also adds two new elements to that canon of work. The first was to trace the origin of the SMU creation to the tragic murder of an Atwater Prison correctional officer in 2008 by two inmates who were drunk on prison wine. This devastating event was key to developing the SMU program under the misguided belief that housing the “worst of the worst” federal prisoners in one location would keep the other prisons safer.
The second new element introduced in CHAINED BIRDS is that of corruption. Thanks to my inside sources, I was able to tell the stories of officer corruption, including collusion with prison gangs. Motives included personal officer vendettas and the perceived need to plot with gang leaders to try and keep the peace.
Many thanks to Literary Titan for spotlighting my work and Chained Birds. You can check out the full interview here … 😊
Carla Conti is a true crime journalist, storyteller, and prison reform advocate. Her debut book, Chained Birds: A True Crime Memoir, will be published by WildBlue Press on November 12, 2024.
