And Flowers Grew Up Through the Concrete: a prison memoir 1981–1992

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Laurence McKeown survived 70 days on hunger strike in 1981. This new memoir covers his time in the H-Blocks for the period 1981–1992.

In this frank, revealing and deeply personal memoir, McKeown leads us through the development of the many prison struggles that followed the hunger strikes and the deaths of ten of his comrades.

First came the mass escape of 1983. This was followed by years of a relentless war of attrition against the prison authorities. Deploying new strategies and tactics, coupled with a revolutionary mindset and politic, the republican prisoners built upon victory after victory.

The author speaks candidly and movingly, especially when recalling relationships with his mother and father, and how he had to come to terms with their deaths while imprisoned.

This is not just a story of prison struggle; it is a story of a communal life lived, a coming to terms with material conditions so as to better challenge those conditions. It is a story of flowers growing up through concrete.

Contents:

Acknowledgements; Glossary; Foreword by Prof Phil Scraton; Preface; Prologue; 1. The Hunger Strike Ends; 2. Moving Forward; 3. The Campaign for Segregation; 4. The Issue of Prison Work; 5. My Mother; 6. The Mass Escape of 1983; 7. Aftermath of the Escape; 8. Political Education and Organisation; 9. Communes; 10. Resignations; 11. The Charter for Republican Communities; 12. The Conditions Campaign; 13. My Father; 14. The Lifer Issue; 15. End of an Era – the Cages Close; 16. Creative Writings and Productions; 17. The Women’s Studies Class; 18. Release; Epilogue.