Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Messenger Quarterly, which published its first issue in May, is a product of Mercury Mountain Media, the publication arm of Unbound Authors, a Colorado nonprofit that provides writing workshops inside correctional facilities.
Anyone incarcerated in one of Colorado’s 21 prisons can submit a piece of writing for publication — news reports, personal essays or creative pieces. The digital editions are accessible to people inside and outside the prisons. Out of 22 active prison newspapers in the U.S., Messenger Quarterly is the only one in the Mountain West, according to the Prison Journalism Project’s 2024 directory.
“Very often when people become incarcerated, there’s a level of, I don’t want to say despondency, but … a lot of the times we have to process a lot when we come into these spaces, and they’re very difficult to process. So allowing people to have a voice again is probably the impact that I see the biggest in this space,” said Daniel Sopiwnik, who is serving a life sentence with eligibility for parole at Fremont Correctional Facility in Cañon City.
“They feel connected to something, maybe for the first time in decades. And I think having that opportunity to be seen and heard outside of the walls of prison is just, it’s almost indescribable,” he said.
Read the complete story at rmpbs.org/news
Produced by Chelsea Casabona and Sarah Shoen
Messenger Quarterly, which published its first issue in May, is a product of Mercury Mountain Media, the publication arm of Unbound Authors, a Colorado nonprofit that provides writing workshops inside correctional facilities.
Anyone incarcerated in one of Colorado’s 21 prisons can submit a piece of writing for publication — news reports, personal essays or creative pieces. The digital editions are accessible to people inside and outside the prisons. Out of 22 active prison newspapers in the U.S., Messenger Quarterly is the only one in the Mountain West, according to the Prison Journalism Project’s 2024 directory.
“Very often when people become incarcerated, there’s a level of, I don’t want to say despondency, but … a lot of the times we have to process a lot when we come into these spaces, and they’re very difficult to process. So allowing people to have a voice again is probably the impact that I see the biggest in this space,” said Daniel Sopiwnik, who is serving a life sentence with eligibility for parole at Fremont Correctional Facility in Cañon City.
“They feel connected to something, maybe for the first time in decades. And I think having that opportunity to be seen and heard outside of the walls of prison is just, it’s almost indescribable,” he said.
Read the complete story at rmpbs.org/news
Produced by Chelsea Casabona and Sarah Shoen
