Over the next three years, the state cycled him through its network of notorious boys’ homes, including one that Seattle Times dubbed “the house of horrors”. However, due to a provision attached to a federal grant that barred placement of siblings in the same home, the state inducted Arthur into the homeless limbo of continuous receiving home placing instead (of placing him in a home with his siblings).Īt the age of 13 years, while on the run from a receiving home, Arthur was arrested for an attempted robbery and assault on the streets of downtown Tacoma. When Arthur was put into the foster care system in Washington State, a psychologist noted his state well.

And he kept himself from starving on the streets of Seattle by snatching a canvas bank bag from beneath the arm of someone not nearly as fast, or hungry, as he was. Encamped beneath a railroad trestle on the bank of the Boise River, he survived by shoplifting and breaking into vending machines. Before he became a ward of the state at 12 years old, he lived in a railway yard in Portland, OR where he panhandled for change, and stole purses and bags from people passing through the city’s two bus stations. Some notable figures who have pointed out the importance of Arthur’s work are Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jonathon Martin, who remarks, “I’ve been engrossed by excellent writing about prison life, as have editors at The Seattle Times.” personal journey through an uncompromising circumstance is fascinating and educational for ‘free world’ readers.” Kevin Murphy at Melville House Books writes, “By measuredly writing about prison life, Longworth establishes himself as something of an expert on the usefulness and potential for rehabilitation in America’s prison system.”īut Arthur hasn’t always written. His writing has been adopted into the curriculum of courses at the University of Texas, Santa Clara University, and the University of Washington.

He has written for the Marshall Project, VICE News, and Yes! Magazine, as well as a wide selection of literary journals.Īrthur’s work has been read on stage at events in New York City by celebrated literary figures, Francine Prose and Junot Diaz, and American hip-hop artist and poet, Talib Kweli.

Zek (Gabalfa Press, 2016), The Prison Diary of Arthur Longworth #299180 (Pygmy Forest Press, 2008). Arthur Longworth has won six National PEN Awards and is the author of two books:

The outermost house book