Tony Vick

    Tony has served almost three decades of a life with parole sentence in Tennessee. Before prison he lived as a closeted gay man; his Southern Baptist parents and an older brother have since died. While incarcerated he has worked as a tutor, clerk and newspaper editor. He’s also begun book clubs and writing workshops, and prisoner-led elder care programs. He writes about captivity in the hope of contributing to the prison reform movement. You can reach him by USPS.

    Tony Vick #276187
    South Central Correctional Facility
    PO Box 279
    Clifton, TN 38425-0279

    Learning to Live With Suicide in Prison

    [This article describes deaths by suicide, including references to the methods of suicide.]   ...

    Given Few Options for Chronic Pain, Prisoners Are Making Safer Moonshine

    Moonshine, hooch, julep, toilet wine, clear—whatever they call it, over the past 30 years ...

    Photographing the Community on Tennessee’s Death Row

    From 2010 to 2015 I was incarcerated in Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, the Tennessee ...

    A Death Row Pastor’s View of Executions

    From 2010 to 2015 I was incarcerated at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, ...

    Some Thoughts on Dying in Prison

    Over the course of my nearly 30 years in Tennessee Department of Correction custody, ...

    Everyone in Prison Needs a Hustle. For a Small Fee, I’ll Help You Find Yours.

    When you enter the men’s prison system in Tennessee, you receive two blue, smock-like ...

    Veterans in Prison, Cut Off From Support, Try to Make It on Their Own

    C*, a 39-year-old Army veteran, struggled to adjust to daily life after coming home ...

    When the Prison Grievance Process Is Worth the Risk

    For nearly three decades, I’ve been hearing people scream for help. Screams of people ...

    To See the US Prisons Crisis, Look at the Books We’re Trying to Read

    The library at South Central Correctional Facility, a Tennessee prison privately operated by CoreCivic, ...