They wrote a book while locked in solitary confinement. Texas won’t let them read it

Incarcerated people are barred from reading a collection of their own letters - and 10,000 other texts - in a state where hundreds remain isolated after a decade or more

It was a Tuesday in May when Lupe's wife texted me: Lupe said he received the book but they denied it because it contained information that could disrupt the system."

Texas prisons are among the most prolific banners of books in the world, with nearly 10,000 banished titles under their belt. But this was unprecedented, in no small part because the author wasn't some Pulitzer prize winner, Nobel laureate or acclaimed civil rights activist. The author was Lupe.