Food for Thought

Here’s What The “Real Piper” From OITNB Wants You To Know About Prison

''Since she left prison in 2005, Piper Kerman hasn’t stopped talking about it.

She spent 13 months at a correctional centre in Danbury, Connecticut, from February 2004. As a white, middle-class prisoner, Kerman quickly became aware of the ways the prison system fails Americans – but particularly poor Americans, and people of colour. Since her stint behind bars, she’s become a vocal advocate for prisoners rights.

She’s been on the board of the Women’s Prison Association for six years and teaches nonfiction writing in two prisons in Ohio. And in a move that brought her story to prominence, she also wrote a memoir that served as the inspiration for hugely popular Netflix show Orange Is the New Black.

Kerman recently spoke at the All About Women festival at the Sydney Opera House and sat down with BuzzFeed News.