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this week, on newly sober, extra special guest writer: JOEY P
Joey P is a brilliant writer and my #1 mentee, who i met through the Pen America Prison Writing Program. after reading an excerpt of his brilliant memoir writing, i wrote my first letter to Joey on February 28, 2022. for the first part of the year, we were beholden to Pen, sending letters through their protocol, but when i didn’t hear from him for almost the entire summer, i got nervous (Pen went through some employee turnover and got backed up when it came to opening and scanning letters). since then, we have moved to a Prison Specific digital messaging service called “Getting Out” where you pay 5 cents to send one message—* we love the Prison Industrial Complex <3*.
over the course of our almost year long mentorship, we have developed a friendship, in addition to sharing a deep love and respect for the craft of writing.
i first met Joey through his words, and was charmed IMMEDIATELY.
when asked who he was as a writer:
over the course of our mentorship, Joey has definitely found his voice. this initial fear has been squelched over our time knowing each other, and i can attest that he has grown instrumentally as a writer. i sent him every Mary Karr memoir that exists and Barbarian Days, and he wrote back letters about skateboarding through cement landscapes and head-banging to metal music on top of rolling chairs.
i asked Joey to write to you all because getting to know him has been one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. and it isn’t as simple as: he showed me my own privilege and now i feel gratitude. sure, there’s some of that. but our work together has been more than that— it has been two writers exploring the craft of writing, all the while sorting through the difficult material of life.
two writers of vastly different life experiences, coming together over a shared love of the craft.
now,without further ado, I give you the letter i received on your behalf from my # 1 MENTEE, JOEY P
*all colorful annotations and doodles were made by yours truly*
CW: drug use, suicide, self-harm.
as always, thank you for reading newly sober. please take the time to comment— all notes of encouragement will be relayed to Joey P. he will be back on newly sober, but hopefully once he is a free-man in May, he will be starting a Substack of his own.
so, please!~ take the time to tell Joey how much you enjoyed his words! you have no idea what it means— this guy is a real talent and needs our support!
don’t forget: like, subscribe, share. do your due diligence so this baby can keep on growin!
XOXOX,
PAULINA
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