Wall Tappings: Women's Prison Writings, 200 A.D. to the Present

by Judith A. Scheffler (Editor)

Breaking histories of silence and invisibility, Wall Tappings presents an international collection of women's writings, from prisons around the world and across centuries. “These are the marginal texts in a tradition of marginal texts,” writes Judith A. Scheffler in introducing her groundbreaking anthology of writing by women prisoners. Unique in its geographic and historical ranges, this rich collection gives a voice to women whose stories have been long neglected. Speaking from settings as diverse as a Roman prison cell in 203 AD, the labor camps of Siberia in the 1930s, and a Philippines prison in the 1980s, these writers explore the ways in which actual incarceration rests in the shadow of imprisonment within larger society.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Prison is
a double wall
one of adobe
the other
so many layers
of barbed wire
both formidable.
The outer wall
is guarded
from watchtowers."

I usually read reviews others have posted to gauge how I want to craft my review, but it looks like I'm pretty much flying solo here. Welp, here goes.

Normally I wouldn't choose a book like this bad boy, but I picked Wall Tappings to fulfill "a book written in prison" slot on Book Riot's 2019 Read Harder Challenge. When I flipped over that final page, I felt glad that I'd invested the time to read this anthology... but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to others. There are so many other amazing books out there that I wouldn't condone spending time on this one.

I know the attempt here was to put together a diverse set of stories from various ladies who've been imprisoned around the globe and who are from all walks of life, but the actual results weren't quite that. Many of the authors were well educated females who were thrown into the slammer for protesting and/or fighting for their rights and/or fighting for the rights of others. Thus, a lot of the tales felt very similar. Plus, the idea of including stories from lady prisoners as far back as the year 203 AD sounds like it'd add interesting viewpoints to this anthology, but stories that are older than dirt are as boring as dirt.

There was one really cool story about a prisoner who observed an elderly fellow prisoner nicknamed Crazy Gert engage in odd behaviors such as fearing overhead blowing fans, wearing all of her clothes at one time, and screaming when it was time to take a shower. At the end of Gert's life, the author discovers that Crazy Gert was a Holocaust survivor, and suddenly, all of her bizarre traits made perfect sense. Such a memorable and unique tale... unlike most of the rest of this book.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful writings by women prisoners over the centuries. I’m sad this book is out of stock. Anyone who has the chance to read it certainly should. My favorite writings were from the Women of ACE, Assata Shakur and Mila D Anguilar.

[Tenicia Trask · Rating 3 out of 5]

For book club!