In Unlawful Disorder (2022 Jaded Ibis Press) Bowie Long uses the exhibition of his body through dancing to reclaim his sexual identity in a room full of heterosexual men. He is using his fear of being ‘othered’ as the outsider and reclaiming his othered status through deliberate dance. This is much the same as the use of the ‘N’ word being reappropriated by African Americans to battle its historical use as a weapon by the dominant culture.
Read MoreSolitary confinement has a few monikers that work to minimize what it really is, protective custody, isolation, etc. But what it consists of is twenty four hours of confinement in a room approximately the size of a bathroom, with no access to books, letters, phone contact, often lit for the entire time, where there is no interaction with any human beings.
Read MoreStatistics from Prison Policy Initiative show the correlation of people with serious mental illness and incarceration. In my new novel, Unlawful DISorder, Bowie’s initial encounter with police exacerbates rather than defuses the situation, leading to enforced treatment at an acute inpatient mental hospital, and sets off a whirlwind of repercussions for him as well as the other people in his orbit.
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