“In the great prison where I was then incarcerated, I was merely the figure and the letter of a little cell in a long gallery. One of a thousand lifeless numbers, as of a thousand lifeless lives.” – Oscar Wilde, De Profundis

Inside: Artists and Writers in Reading Prison brought together works by 23 artists and writers installed inside the empty Reading Prison, where Oscar Wilde was incarcerated between 1895-97, and the extraordinary extended letter De Profundis which he wrote in his prison cell.

This book includes extensive excerpts from De Profundis alongside new letters by Ai Weiwei, Tahmima Anam, Anne Carson, Joe Dunthorne, Deborah Levy, Danny Morrison, Gillian Slovo, Binyavanga Wainaina and Jeanette Winterson reflecting on real and imaginary separations.

Also featured are colour photographs of works installed inside Reading Prison by artists including Vija Celmins, Marlene Dumas, Richard Hamilton, Nan Goldin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Roni Horn, Steve McQueen, and Wolfgang Tillmans.

Includes and introduction by James Lingwood and Michael Morris.

Published alongside an exhibition at Reading Prison, 4 September – 4 December 2016.