For this folio, the inside editors of Freedom Meridian wanted to open our hearts and minds to YEARNING, the unanswered desires inside of all of us. Where could desire take us? For incarcerated writers, love is more than red ribbons, roses, and candy. Love is a letter detailing lifetimes ofyearning or a first meeting story; love is an argument that leads to heartbreak, a true Valentine on a quest; love is maintaining connection across borders, walls, and cages. This connection relies on the belief that we share desire for a righteous cause, where our desire can be honored despite constant attempts to dehumanize and disconnect us from each other and our shared humanity. Yearning is second nature. The works we have selected expand on YEARNING in the many different ways it bubbles up in the lives of incarcerated writers.
Yearning happens on both sides of the wall. When we explore the idea of what YEARNING means, we see what we all share in common. Yet, our YEARNING (as prisoners, incarcerated people, or how ever one defines themselves while in captivity) is akin to a religion: we yearn for what is not seen, as if we had the evidence that it could be.
Facility lock downs are common in most states. What was uncommon about New York state's 2025 lock down: it was statewide, meaning 38 out of 42 prisons were locked down. 3,500 national guards were deployed inside the facilities. Doubling down on the already incarcerated, many stretch the limits of their chains in their daring YEARNING for freedom--of the mind, the body, the heart. On the outside, we mustn't forget what's happening to our incarcerated communities, including those in migrant detention. Our collective YEARNING, essentially, is to be "free." During these extreme aspects of being confined, our YEARNING is made even more palpable, nuanced, and complexed. We hope and long for things, people, situations to alleviate the pains of incarceration--internally and as a community. These works solicited from incarcerated writers across the U.S. in 2025 exhibit, in its complexities, YEARNING. Read it here.
