David Monaghan – Writer & Journalist
davidanthonymonaghan@gmail.com
Please see below for a message from Irish journalist and writer David Monaghan, who is seeking persons with experience of incarceration and restorative justice that are willing to speak to him to inform his ongoing non-fiction writing. If you would like to contact David, you may do so at DavidAnthonyMonaghan@gmail.com.
***
I (David Monaghan) am an Irish journalist and writer currently in the process of writing a literary non-fiction piece about incarcerated people. I contacted Restorative Justice: Strategies for Change, Ireland because I wish to speak to people who have experienced incarceration, are currently incarcerated, or are members of an incarcerated person’s family. If they have gone down the route of restorative justice as an accompaniment to incarceration, I am especially keen to hear about their experience of this.
I have been looking into prison abolition and alternative means of justice since last year. I wish to document life before, during and after incarceration through the lived experience of individuals. Incarcerated persons can feel voiceless and abandoned by society-at-large, and my aim is to document their narratives, unfiltered, with the hope of highlighting their humanity. This entails using interviews to create a collage of voices – a sort of documentary or essay-style approach to writing – as opposed to standard reportage. It will be their words, presented with minimal interference from the author.
As it has been documented that carceral systems can reinforce prejudices seen in other facets of society, I wish to speak to queer people, working-class people and people of colour about how incarceration has affected them in ways unique to their circumstances. That said, falling into one of these categories is not a prerequisite for participating, and I am open to speaking with any individual who has been through the system.
I understand there may be hesitancy regarding anything that is seemingly extractive or short-term. I understand that what incarcerated people need is genuine care and follow-through, not to be mined for insight and then dropped. For my part, my aim is to maintain long-term connections with the people who reach out to me. My work is guided by empathy and uplifting marginalised voices, so anonymity and full transparency are guaranteed.
I do not have a particular publication in mind. Rather, I hope to publish this in a non-fiction journal at some point
For examples of my previous work, see below:
For Many Elderly People, the Pandemic has Worsened a Sense of Loneliness: https://dublininquirer.com/2020/10/14/for-many-elderly-people-the-pandemic-has-worsened-a-sense-of-loneliness
Working-Class Heroines, Reviewed: https://dublininquirer.com/2018/09/26/working-class-heroines-reviewed
Dancing in the Margins: How Inclusive Are Dublin’s LGBTQ+ Clubs?: https://dublininquirer.com/2017/06/07/dancing-in-the-margins-how-inclusive-are-dublin-s-lgbtq-clubs
Bridging A Gap, Finding Our Voice: An Interview With Activist Tonie Walsh: https://afranticdisposition.wordpress.com/2016/12/15/bridging-a-gap-finding-our-voice-an-ineterview-with-activist-tonie-walsh/
Please let me know if you have any further questions. You may contact me at DavidAnthonyMonaghan@gmail.com.
You can also read more about myself and my work here: