Every day we receive letters from people in prison. Many share the impact of About Time on their lives. Readers have told us that they feel as if they have a voice for the very first time. Some talk about how the paper has helped them connect to others and lessen isolation. Many talk about the educative benefit of the paper, while others praise the newfound hope and sense of self-worth they feel reading a publication just for them. Here are all of their words.
Dear About Time,
I was very excited to see the writing competition article in the latest edition. Included is my submission. It's based on my own happy place (nature) and even if it's nowhere near good enough to be included in the newspaper, just having the chance to write creatively is fantastic. So thank you.
To read about people experiencing almost the same things that bother me makes me feel less isolated and that I am not crazy, some peace of mind and relativity, empathy and understanding.
To read about others going through the same experience is reassuring and comforting, it helps kill time, learn, laugh and relate.
Keep up the good work. We need you :)
Dear Rosie,
I just want to say how happy I am to receive a reply from you. I never expected an acknowledgement of receipt, let along a letter. This means a world to me. It shows that someone was kind enough to take their time to read through and understand what it meant and appreciate the event and the effects it bears upon the writer. I can not thank you enough for that.
Congratulations on the launch of About Time. I can only imagine how many obstacles you have navigated to successfully sail the product into Australia's prisons, and from where I sit it was very warmly received by the inmates, security and medical staff that I share time with. Well done, and thank you for delivering us something we didn't know we needed until we received it.
I write to About Time so others can see their stories matter and others will maybe write in too or tell there families to. Cause it helps to deal with being stuck and also lets me get it out.
It makes me feel pain is only a thought not a feeling and everyone goes through it some don’t show it. Cause I see others feel it or live it too, I feel their pain as I too have lived it or gone through it.
It is a space of free speech and also gives good advice and also hope and strength.
Thank you for your work providing the About Time platform which allows creativity and expression a space to flourish.
Last night I woke up with something I had to write down which is just how it happens, and I wrote this poem that I would like to share with everybody. I hope you like it too.
It would be nice if you could publish it as it is my hope that it will help people form more positive relationships in their lives and help contribute to a more pro-social society.
Thank you, I enjoy reading your newspaper.
About Time is an avenue that we can express our frustrations, our gratitude and facts. It is a honest and reliable source that we can depend on, it is stories and facts from prisoners that hasn’t been distorted. None of the stories have been doctored. I really enjoy reading this honest media outlet. Thank you!
Finally a voice for the unseen and unheard. First huge step in connecting prisoners.
There are way too many problems in jail, so to hope for better solutions is always an interesting find. Also staying connected to other's thoughts and feelings – it sort of feels like a union paper.
I certainly agree it helps give a more earnest effort of confidence in writing, but I do believe it is more to do with the burning feelings in one's heart that makes them feel compelled to write. Improved writing skills is just a bonus.
I personally look forward to the paper, as do so many others in prison. The impact was very moving – to hear other stories, to see legal opportunities available as well as fun stuff to do to keep us occupied (especially with so many lockdowns). It is in the word 'Impact' – To Act!
Wow, I won the caption comp for December... I've never won anything and the whole jail is congratulating me. Our jail was never told about your newspaper – but in November 2024 it just showed up and all 120 girls love it. So please, please keep it up. ... Thank you for the write up on pen pal programs – I've been in jail for four and a half years and always watch a show called Love After Lockup based on the USA pen pal project ... Anyway guys, thank you for your newspaper. We eagerly await it every month here.
To About Time,
Thank you for your newspaper. I look forward to reading it each month. Its great! I enjoyed it from the first time I read it last year. Its made me feel connected, seen & heard. When I first went to jail I felt really alone and your newspaper helped me so much. Someone – well lots of someones – got how I felt. They understood. Thank you for that. I've written this poem while incarcerated. I really hope you will publish it for me.
Keep up the hard work – we need you guys.
About Time gives prisoners a voice and a platform. In life being heard is so important, and makes you feel you have something to offer. Contributing made me feel valued.
So many relatable stories, letters etc, when you thought you were alone in your experience or thoughts. The relatable content really makes you feel that you are not alone. Everyone's experience is unique but there is plenty of articles/letters that reflect my own experience.
In my 4th week of prison (1st time) it has given me more insight and validated so much of my feeling/experience. It is already making a hard situation somewhat better and has given me a more positive feeling (even though some articles expose so much of what is wrong with the system!).
I just want to thank you and the team, and the contributors, for providing a publication that is so raw, honest and relatable.
Keep up the great work, you are making a difference and helping countless people get through this experience!
This paper deserves all the support it can get. A way for prisoners to express their honest stories and gifts. A real way to heal and rehabilitate encouraging others to do the same.
I relate to a lot of people in this paper. I feel comfort in knowing I'm not alone in custody. I feel more connected, and well heard.
I feel submitting/participating in surveys makes me feel as my input is valued towards making a better paper! It's helped boredom and helped me better understand jail, as it's my first time (been here 4 months).
Keep producing a great paper! Thousands of us appreciate it! Love from Charlotte.
I can't tell you how glad I was to see this paper come into my unit, a sign that times can and always will change the way we live, especially in prison.
I love this newspaper and enjoy reading it from front to back and back to front. I really enjoy looking at the artworks. You published one of my artworks, DEEP OCEAN, so thank you. I am very proud of that artwork. I taught myself to do art as I was severely bullied and abused, mentally, and physically, growing up and until this very day and I find it is good escape for my mental health. It helps me copy with all the bullshit and bullying that goes on in this place, that I've called home for the past 9 years. I have a minimum of 6 years left to go and then hopefully I can leave this place behind me. I'm not sure where I will restart my life once I'm out, but I guess I still have time to sort that out lol. Well that's all I wanted to say so thank you and keep up the wonderful work.
About Time helped both me and my partner on the outside share some situationaI awareness. Cannot wait for the paper each month. The articles by other prisoners resonate with my own inner voice, they give my own feelings more universality. Submitting my writing feels as if I can make a difference.
Thank you About Time! Amazing work.
About Time helps me relate to my problems knowing others are also dealing with similar problems I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I feel that I have a connection to others with similar struggles and that I am not alone. I don’t feel as isolated over the past six years doing hard time.
It has given me the confidence in trying to write better and for help in bettering myself pre-release.
Due to reading this I know there is help and that there’s always some one worse off needing help.
I have been in prison for over 13 years and I want to say that your newspaper is an amazing opportunity for all who have put the time in and it has been very well received throughout the Victorian Prison System.
Its my first time reading this paper and I love every thing that it offers, thank you for sharing information that all prisoners need to know.
It makes you feel like your feelings and thoughts are valid and others can relate to how you feel and together we can over come this negative time in our lives and turn this experience into a positive and heal and live your best life.
Because it comes from us that live it, us the real people that experience jail life every day every minute, people on the outside should really learn what actually goes on and the mistreatment we as prisoners go through we are all not bad people.
This is just the first of many times I will submit my words, my feelings and my thoughts I will continue to offer my help and guidance even when I am released.
Its good to share and connect without judgement give you self confidence.
It was great to see prisoners being spoken of in a constructive and positive way, as I'm sure you're aware that isn't the norm in Australia. I look forward to hearing back from you and hopefully reading your newspaper.
About Time has positively impacted my belief in myself. It has real life stories from real life prisoners.
To About Time,
I only just discovered the prison newspaper last month in April 2026.
I spent all day reading and sharing the newspaper here at Melaleuca Women’s Prison.
I had only just begun writing again since getting incarcerated this year in January.
When I found out about About Time I was excited to be able to write in to the national prison newspaper.
I do look forward to reading some of the submitted written work of others and possibly hope to enter into the next writing competition!
From Vanessa.
Dear About Time,
Thank you once again for your amazing publication. I know I speak for myself and many of the other men here when I say that you publication is valued and appreciatedand we look forward to its arrival each month. It certainly becomes a central discussion point in the yard in the days following its distribution here. Both myself and the other men within my accommodation lodge read over every edition repeatedly.
I've written to you once previously with a poem that didn't make the cut. I hope my submission this time around is more in line with the material you're looking to publish. Once again, thank you for your incredible work in continuing to support, connect, and inform incarcerated men and women across the country.
I've been following your paper and I love it. I find it very cool and entertaining.
I first and foremost would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for all the hard work that goes into producing and providing myself and the other prisoners in Australia with your truly captivating content.
Your work and effort does not go unnoticed.
Thank you to the team at About Time for your efforts and hard work making the newspaper what it is.
He was pretty happy when he called, and had already cut the exercises out to stick on the wall in his cell!
Thanks again Edith. I hope all in the AT team really understand how much difference the paper makes.
I am thankful for any and all social and creative outlets such as yourselves involved in the creation and distribution of your newspaper. They provide a link or window to another place, an opening for personal expression and a greater sense of community for those who choose to make use of the opportunities. Writing a book review for a peer newsletter that might only be read by a hundred or so inmates at one prison may not change the world, but having someone stop you in the yard to tell you that they were impressed with your writing is valuable and reinvigorating.
About Time is filled with good and thoughtful people issues, because we all have contributed to it. Misery loves company, so to speak. I’m now 9 jail sentences in so am very much used to this but this is for us crims and has made us feel connected and that someone gives a f**k. By making us write letters, it helped stimulate the brain.
The paper gives me a positive attitude is because I felt good when I read this. Thank you and I love your work.
This this paper is dedicated to prisoners which helps our mind health in so many ways.
The stories are from prisoners who want to share their views with others and that helps us do our time. It meant I could share my story with others who are feeling the same way. I feel this paper allows us to connect with each other.
About Time is a great way to learn what is happening in other jails. It was a chance to use my writing skills and use the tools to tell a story. Love this paper.
Please keep up the great work and thanks for giving us a voice.
This is my first time and I must say, stumbling across About Time has made things so much better. The open, honest, raw and relatable articles are real gems and resonate hugely.
Anyway, I felt compelled to contribute so here follows a few submissions for your consideration.
About Time
There is a great paper 'About Time',
Which is free and won't cost you a dime,
With articles galore,
It is never a bore,
And provides a refreshing angle on crime!
Thank you for what you do.
I have no contact with my brother who is in prison and the newspaper gives me great comfort knowing I have some small insight into his life, a way I can connect with his world.
I'd like to give a shout-out to Vanessa from prison in WA and welcome to About Time. I discovered About Time early last year 2025 and always look forward each month for the read. Last year in two seperate issues I had stories published and seeing them in the national prison newspaper was the best feeling.
I've always had a love for writing but never had the time, now incarcerated I have nothing but time so I decided to put pen to paper and with two stories published I am now working on writing a book.
Sometimes when we write something worth publishing it is when we least expect it. For me writing is a powerful tool that helps with my mental health.
Keep up the good work and never give up writing, I look forward to future stories.
About Time gives a sense of community and belonging. It’s valuable to have my opinion heard and respected, to stay feeling valued and worthy.
To have a voice, to be heard with no fear of judgment. It gives a clearer perspective and to know that others experience the same things as we do in these places. Hear and see other peoples stories and know there is no judgement.
Because the truths are being printed rather than hidden.
Hello About Time and Readers,
I love getting the opportunity to learn about other prisoners and their stories from all over the country. We all have something to share and I encourage everyone to give it a go. Finding purpose is how we thrive beyond survival against all odds, especially in these circumstances that I'm sure we can all relate to.
Shout out to my girls at DPFC and anyone else incarcerated, struggling with their own consciousness.
A gracious thank you to About Time for giving us a necessary platform to express ourselves.
About Time has been a lifeline - when I was inside, it gave me a sense of purpose and feelings of camaraderie. The stories were really powerful. I have a chronic illness and suffer from intense pain, and writing for About Time has given me something to focus on and prevents me from going to dark places. Without About Time I don't know where I would be.
I read your paper the night previous, and a part of me that previously was dead or dying suddenly felt alive and connected to others with similar struggles and trauma … So I just want to say thanks for your newsletter/prison paper.
About Time allows for expression, and a platform to be seen and heard, in a space with little other options for us. Had over a dozen people say they read and enjoyed my writings after they were published. Can be yourself in the written word, free thought and expression of mind.
I submitted to feel seen/heard, in an environment where we’re not; had a lot of feedback from friends inside and a nice letter from the outside posted in reply.
Hello Mini, Rosie,
Thank you so much. I feel humbly encouraged.I do believe that in my monologue about water, I went into a zone.
A zone that reflected a dark period, yet one in which I was able to tap into the sort of hope I felt when immersed in that life-giving, soul-nourishing water. I went to places, in that talk, I haven't been to for nearly 40 years. And that I've never spoken about, out loud. I worried at the start of the exercise whether I'd be able to recall anything with five-senses resolution. I was wrong.
Perhaps if I had people speechless, that's a good thing? Perhaps it brings us all back to the bone-deep reality of life inside; aneasthetises our senses for a moment, occasions a reset, and renders possible further externalising of experiences. Perhaps we, in trying to capture our prison experiences, teeter on the precipice of fear – and in that state, we pause before measuring if we have the strength to fully give of our experiences.
I do believe that I chose to leap into that chasm of fear, and give voice to one aspect of my experience of imprisonment. I think I succeeded.
Thank you so much for giving us all a forum, a platform to externalise our experiences. The hope is that it helps people inside to feel seen and validated, and humanised.
With great thanks,
Steve
First of all thank you so much for all the knowledge you collect and put in these newspapers. Really appreciate it.
I wrote to you a couple of months ago and you published my article in your newspaper. Thank you, as some other inmates here were touched by it because I got the officers to photocopy it on four papers and I stuck one on each noticeboard in the units and one on each window and everybody read it. Some prisoners praised me and said “good on ya”. I’d like you to consider publishing a new thing I wrote about recidivism.
I really enjoy your paper and the articles and the art are unreal.
To About Time,
I only just discovered the prison newspaper last month in April 2026. I spent all day reading and sharing the newspaper here at Melaleuca Women’s Prison. I had only just begun writing again since getting incarcerated this year in January.
When I found out about About Time I was excited to be able to write in to the national prison newspaper. At the time I had no idea what to write. I wanted to enter the writing competition but the subject “Food For Thought”, is one of my least favourite food sayings!
So I was a little put off and tried a couple attempts to write something about it, not succeeding in my attempts. I do look forward to reading some of the submitted written work of others and possibly hope to enter into the next writing competition!
First of all I would like to say I look forward to and appreciate your monthly newspaper very much, as do many other prisoners nationwide. A big massive congratulations on your 2 year birthday and going national, everyone involved deserves a standing ovation (all involved and prisoners nationwide as everyone is a contributor and as they say, (EVERY ONES A WINNER). I hope I can contribute one day in some way and once again thank you for your newspaper.
To the publishers of About Time newspaper,
Thanks to all the opportunities the paper brings to prisoners.
Thank you so much for running my fire breathing piece in January's edition. Lovely to see it there. Happy to continue contributing into the future.
I was very excited to see the writing competition article in the latest edition. Included is my submission. This story is a reflection of where I feel many people are in prison as well as a life constantly full of gambling where to be truly happy we just need to stop, breathe, be silent (sometimes). I took back on my own happy place (nature), even if its nowhere near good enough to be included in the newspaper, just having the chance to be creative is fantastic! So thank you.
I'm a proud First National Gomeroi/Gamilaaray jinung from Country. I'm writing to say many THANX for your monthly editions. Really! So much appreciation, your papers have helped me through many tough times. Both strength and struggle.
Love your mag it's something to look forward to every month!
I want to walk out of this place one day a better person and use this time as an experience, just a speed bump in my life. Thank you for the newsletter. There is a lot of helpful stuff in it.
Anyway, thanks for the great read every month I always look forward to it.
Thank you for providing a platform for connection and creative expression for the most marginalised cohorts in our communities. People who write in prison authentically honestly and vulnerably in the stories and experiences they share. Articles and contributions read as authentic, honest and raw.
Keep up the fight.
Some of my students enjoy writing, and I’d like to try and get them to write for About Time. Seeing other people in custodial settings writing articles might inspire them.
Thank you for the newspapers and taking the time to read my letter.
We may be criminals, but we also cry at night.
I'm writing to you guys, because I'm a big fan of the work you do and what the newspaper represents, and because I'd like to share some advice and tips on how to make the most of your time inside.
It's great to read other people's stories and articles. Also, I find excellent advice and experiences are much the same as my journey throughout prison, in and out.
I have read every one of your newspapers from the start and always look forward to the next one. Thanks for the good work.
THANK YOU for About Time. Keep up the good work :)
Again thanks for the great mag.
Thank you for doing the work you do guys.
This is so awesome. Such important work. I must look into how you got approval for this as the state is so punitive and resistant to prisoners needs. Anyway, awesome work!
Reading about other experiences gives consistency to my own experiences, literally felt like they described my very own time/experiences.
P.S. Love your work.
And just want to say a big thank you to About Time newspaper and other inmates in custody/jail remember to smile every day :)
This paper is one of the only positives in here. I sincerely thank you and your entire team for every story and every edition.
It really helped me through the hard times in custody last time and the stories gave me some self-belief. Also your paper inspired me to do journalism as my combined degree with law.
I love seeing The Torch artwork in here - they do so much for the Mob in jail. Keep up the good work. Happy New Year to all the Black Mob behind bars.
I am writing in regards to the writing competition. I would like to acknowledge and give thanks to country, elders past, present and future. I am very grateful for this opportunity and am excited to add this experience to my resume.
About Time has relatable info that may help me.
Thank you, keep up the good work. From a supporter x
To the awesome newspaper for all prisons – About Time,
Thank you for your newspaper. The women love reading it here.
Thank you to all who created 'About Time' and for making it work. I am a deaf prisoner who is quite isolated within isolation. I miss out on small talks such as what other prisoners are really feeling to bigger things such as how to make a complaint against case notes. Deaf Services has been trying to fight to bring tablets in for deaf prisoners in Queensland and it's good to see that the government is slowly introducing tablets into some prisons and that tablets may be possible for deaf prisoners in the future. The newspaper is like a light at the end of a tunnel. Thank you.
I thank you for your time & consideration regarding these matters & I greatly look forward to hearing from you.
Great work with the paper keep it up… Since reading your paper I realise other prisons go through the same issue. It's not fair or humane.
It is comforting and nice that About Time so clearly shows people care enough to bother printing. :-)
Firstly, thank you for the newspaper, I look forward to every new issue! It's an amazing opportunity to read everyones thoughts, feelings and experiences, as well as educate ourselves around the system and available resources and it provides me with a strong sense of connection.
I am a first time reader and as the title says yes it’s about time that a news letter/paper has been published congrats on that. I am hoping to become a regular contributor to your paper.
Great to get your paper, this only about our 3rd copy.
So, keep them coming. It's great to read other people’s stories.
Answering your survey, I found it was great to stimulate my brain.
I am 68 years old and I get very little stimulus in here. I have a lot of pain and can’t walk.
After multiple sentences and long stints in prison, I am in the process of understanding myself and the impacts of my behaviours. I am writing to About Time to share with others what I have learnt. I hope this is helpful to others in similar situations to me.
Firstly I love your paper & a big thank you for putting it out for the prison population!
Big congratulations on the newspaper, you have no idea how many of us read your paper and how much it helps us boys to know and hear so many of us are going through the same stuff.
This is my first time writing to About Time. I love reading articles that been published. I find them fascinating to read, so I thought of writing an article and share what I have to say. I hope that you find my article interesting to read and also be published. Writing stories has inspired me to keep my head up and smile, being 7 months in.
Dear About Time thanks for your tireless efforts in making a little brightness in an otherwise dull place. I especially would like to thank you for your reply paid letters between calls and munchies.
Thank you About Time.
I have attached a submission for the “Writing Challenge”. This has inspired me to write a full story so my submission is the first chapter of my book.
I thank you for the opportunity you guys offer prisoners to express there creativity!
I would like to let you all know I really love your paper, and the intentions behind it. Keep up the great work.
I have only ever written one poem, but it came out pretty well so I’d like to share with y’all.
G'day guys! Love the paper!
Firstly thank you for such a composition of art, education, therapy, information, communication... FREEDOM!
Thanks for your time and effort.
I think the guys in prison appreciate this paper. It reminds me I’m not the only one in this situation, I get like to see what others are writing & feeling while in jail.
Thank you all you guys do :)
Congrats once again for your August edition and of course your pick of my poem for publishing! Thanks again always for your continued publication. Keep up the good work.
PS. and a big thank you to Australia's National Prison Newspaper and everyone that has published something – onya!
Dear About Time Editor,
Please feel free to edit this letter to better suit your newspaper and readers. I just want to do my part to make someone else’s life a little better.
Thanks About Time. I truly appreciate your time and change, what you do is priceless.
They have been distributed and the residents were very appreciative.
About Time reminds me that I'm not alone in the prison. I'm human just like you. It allows community to exist outside of individual prisons. It gives varied opinions, even people who disagree with each other. It's refreshing. It gave me something to do that feels important. I have a voice.
About Time has renewed my belief and hope that honesty matters, that other quality people care about honesty and justice, that incarcerated people choose to make amends and that others care - our source of healing and change.
My personal gratitude to Joseph Friedman, Rosie staff, financial supporters, subscribers and the courageous contributors.
Just good to see us Blackfellas get something as we don’t get much down here and we are locked down well over 50% of the time.
Thank you again for the paper and the feeling of belonging we get from reading the paper.
Dear 'About Time' editors,
The poetry by Leslie at Ravenhall and Robert here at Wolston really stood out for me.
Principally I write to extend feedback - re: your monthly paper. I must say that it was with more than the usual measuring spoon of interest that most here welcomed its arrival. Upon finding it in our respective mailboxes, it caused a stir. A tad like the discovery of gold in Ballarat: a freakin buzz!
Some leafed the pages; quietly absorbed by its content. Whilst some flocked together like a monochrome-green flamboyance of flamingos chortling approbation for the contents therein. A small, tidy group o Indigenous fellas loudly (and proudly!) celebrated the inclusion of the artwork of a dear friend of mine Chris at the top right corner of page 11. In short, conversation thrived! The overall reaction across the board: favourable!
Could it be I'm 'reading' too much into it, if you'll pardon the intended pun? Nay, say I. For the reason is simple. For most of us, About-Time rekindles the hearth flames of hope…. And solidarity.
Concurrently - albeit more tactfully - it served as a semi-tabloid sized platform some many choose to use as a way of expressing the beauty they've shielded within since time immemorial. This beauty, be it an artistic or linguistics, or even just humanistic, will finally sprout from the nutrient-poor soil of imprisonment like a tentative sapling (craving the warmth of yellow sunshine on its budding, little leaves).
A 'green' clothed sapling that can now reach toward the azure skies of better expression; ethical tolerance; and more meaningful connection with life and love.
As one of the two peer educators, I interact with dozens of inmates daily. Without reservations, I can say your paper has had a positive influence on all and sundry. And that's tickety-boo!! Quite soon, I imagine you'll be navigating a metaphorical diluvial flood of correspondence into all areas of expression you graciously invite feedback and/or input.
If you would be so kind as to grant me a little leeway in sending you an occasional short story, or a poem, or even an observational anecdote: then I'd be totes chuffed!
First I would to thank anyone who has been and is involved with About Time. As a "first timer" this paper is a vital vehicle for information of prison life from across the nation, I look forward to every issue and it reminds me there is life waiting outside.
About Time volunteers, give yourself a pat on the back for this paper, well done! You have no idea the effect it has on the readers. Such a positive initiative towards all people incarcerated.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for the paper. It has been quite the eye opener for me, eight months into a two year sentence. Among the views expressed, many about their time, reflecting on boredom, lack of resources and so on, and I thought to add my older prisoner view simply because so many of your readers here at Wolston are older men, though I assume many of the same or similar issues happen to women as well.
Thanks so much for printing my 'always someone worse off than you' story in Issue N°4. I've been motivated to put together a rough draft for a guide to help new prisoners acclimatise to their new surroundings.
I have a son who's on remand and as your paper isn't issued in the NT a hard copy would be great, as I can quote items to him in letters.
Many thanks! Keep up the great work!
Thank you, keep up good work.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
Firstly, let me say, only recently discovered your publication while flicking through the resources on my tablet but have now gone through and read all the back issues available.. it's fantastic and look forward to its release each month. Again, love your work, keep it up and keep on smiling.
Thank you for sending this newspaper to the residents here, they have arrived and as always there has been a positive response.
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