From Incarcerated Writer to Statewide Publisher
By: JoyBelle Phelan
When I first picked up a pen inside a Colorado prison, I had no idea that writing would become the compass that guided me through some of the most difficult years of my life.
Back then, I was simply trying to make sense of myself—my past, my choices, my grief, and the possibility that I might still have something to offer the world. I didn’t imagine that a decade later I would help relaunch a statewide publication for incarcerated writers, or that I would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with community partners and the Colorado Department of Corrections building something we once feared might be lost forever.
But that is the power of writing from prison: it turns what feels impossible into something newly alive.
My first introduction to publishing came when I submitted a piece to The Inside Report, Colorado’s first state-wide newspaper created by and for incarcerated people. I was one of the first women from the general population to be published in its pages—a milestone I didn’t fully grasp until much later.
At the time, it felt like a small victory: a twopage story, mailed off with a trembling hope that someone out there might see me not as a DOC number, but as a human being.
When that issue arrived on the unit, everything changed. Seeing my name in print—my voice held with care—was the first time in years that I felt not erased, but expanded.
It was proof that I still existed, that my thoughts mattered, that I could contribute something meaningful even from the inside. That sense of possibility would go on to shape every step of my journey.
As I grew as a writer, writing became more than a creative outlet. It became a way to reclaim agency, to build community, and to connect with others who were searching for the same thing: a way to tell the truth of our lives without shame.
I became a peer mentor for writing programs, helped others tell their stories, and discovered that my greatest joy came from supporting other people’s voices.
When I was released, I knew I wanted to keep working in prison education and storytelling. I joined the DU Prison Arts Initiative and eventually became the managing editor of The Inside Report and its creative arts magazine, Reverberations.
I helped shepherd the last issue that was published and distributed statewide. Those issues carried the work of hundreds of writers and artists across every facility in Colorado. We built editorial teams inside, trained first-time writers, and created spaces where people felt seen.
When the publications went dormant after my departure, I carried with me a quiet promise: one day, somehow, we would bring them back.
For years that promise felt like a distant dream. But dreams have momentum when community gathers around them. And now, through the partnership between Unbound Authors— the organization I co-founded— and the Colorado Department of Corrections, we are relaunching a new suite of statewide publications under Mercury Mountain Media: Messenger Quarterly, Mosaics, and an annual anthology. These publications will honor the legacy of The Inside Report and Reverberations while creating something bold, collaborative, and future-facing.
We are doing this with the same spirit that animated the earliest writing programs inside: everyone has a story, and every story matters.
Today’s editorial teams include incarcerated Managing Editors, Senior Editors, Section Editors, and Copy Editors working in collaboration with volunteer journalists, writing instructors, and community partners.
Many of our editors are first-time staff members who have spent years developing their craft in writing labs across the state. Others, like me, found writing during some of the hardest chapters of their lives and discovered not just a skill, but a calling.
I believe deeply in the people writing behind these walls. I believe in their talent, their resilience, their brilliance, and their insight.
JoyBelle Phelan
This relaunch is more than a publication— it’s a movement. It’s the return of a statewide forum where people can reflect on their lived experiences, share solutions to challenges in their facilities, celebrate creativity, and build bridges of understanding with the outside world.
It’s a platform for good journalism, thoughtful storytelling, and courageous truthtelling. And it’s rooted in collaboration—with CDOC Programs, CDOC Communications, the Pollen Initiative, volunteers, donors, and the hundreds of writers across Colorado who show up with courage on the page every time they write.
Writing saved my life more than once. It gave me structure when everything felt chaotic. It gave me purpose when I felt lost. It gave me community when isolation felt like the only option. And it gave me a way forward— a way to transform something painful into something powerful.
I believe deeply in the people writing behind these walls. I believe in their talent, their resilience, their brilliance, and their insight. I have witnessed firsthand how writing can shift the trajectory of a life—not by erasing hard truths, but by illuminating what is possible on the other side.
As we relaunch these publications, I carry with me the memory of the day I held my first printed article in my hands. I remember the shock, pride, and hope that washed over me. I remember thinking: Maybe I still matter. Maybe I still have a voice.
Now, standing on the other side of the razor wire, I get to help hundreds of others feel that same thing.
Community is our byword. And through these pages—through every article, poem, editorial, and piece of art—we are building a chorus of voices across Colorado that refuses to be silent.
Because when people inside tell their own stories, everyone benefits. We understand each other better. We imagine new possibilities. And we recognize the humanity that connects us all.