Interface

Much of who we are as individuals is shaped by our relationships: our interfaces with others. Incarcerated on North Carolina’s death row, George T. Wilkerson interfaces with both himself and others in this debut poetry collection. His early experiences reveal general themes relevant to American culture: poverty, racism, drug addiction, mental illness, child abuse, the culture of criminality in the projects. As Wilkerson moves through the prison system, additional themes emerge: the destructive nature of long-time segregation, the mundanity of prison violence, the disconnect between prisoners and their families. Imprisoned and isolated, Wilkerson interfaces with who he used to be, memories of his free life, and his immediate environment on death row. The result is a work that documents one man’s transformation from a criminal held captive by his unconscious values to an autonomous individual led by conviction and a creative spirit.