Notes on The Prison Brides' Club

An illustration of prison bars (by Shannon Loys)

Happy Sunday!

In a SMIRK section I published last week, I described the relationships I made with other women I met while I was visiting Martin Shkreli in prison. There is some backstory to that piece that you might find interesting — I actually wrote it back in May 2020 and was discussing the possibility of publishing it with a magazine editor. But I ultimately opted not to do that for a number of reasons.

These notes also touch on the implications of loving someone who is stigmatized. With Martin, who is known worldwide as the “Pharma Bro,” stigma is definitely a huge factor in his personal life, whether he likes it or not. But it’s also something that everyone in prison, or who has a loved one in prison, must deal with to some extent.