Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar: Letters from Prison by Patty Prewitt
“Life with no parole for fifty years. That’s what my paperwork reads. I saw it in print the day I arrived.”
So begins Patty Prewitt’s epistolary memoir, Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar, describing the first eighteen years of her incarceration in various Missouri women's prisons.
Her letters tell the nightmarish story of incarceration while also describing her daily attempts at making the best of the situation with keen observation, humor, and compassion for those around her. Patty served thirty-eight years before her sentence was commuted.
Read an excerpt from Trying to Catch Lightning in a Jar on the the Some People Press Substack.
About the author
Patty Prewitt was born and raised on a cattle ranch near Lone Jack, Missouri. Her writing was first published, in Wee Wisdom magazine, when she was in second grade. During her incarceration, she won a PEN America writing contest and had both prose and poetry published in Wrath-Bearing Tree, the Massachusetts Review, Tampa Review, Tacenda Magazine, Cholla Needles, MiPOesias, and Duende. Two of her plays have been performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. In December 2024, Prewitt was released from prison at age seventy-five, nearly forty years after what she continues to maintain was a wrongful conviction. She resides in Greenwood, Missouri, with family.
Miranda July
author of All Fours
“Prewitt found herself stuck in a world most of us only get a glimpse of in anxious fever dreams and somehow managed to send back messages letting us know that life is still what you make of it.”
“I just kept hope every day. I woke up thinking today might be the day, and I have children and grandchildren, and I had parents, I couldn't disappoint anybody. I couldn't give up.”
What People Are Saying
“I couldn’t put it down. Read it in one sitting. I highly recommend and I’m waiting for the second book. Thank you.”
— Reader review on Amazon
“Amazing book! Exceptional writing! I loved the details in this book. Its almost like you can visualize yourself there. I couldn't put the book down. Can't wait for the second book to come out.”
— Judi
“Just finished this life-changing book. I’ll never look at prisoners the same way again. The abuse is horrendous for women inmates! I hope there will be a sequel.
— Joyce C.
“I inhaled this book, and it was like having the author's innermost thoughts and feelings on a silver platter - with a side of humor, sadness, and truth! It was as if you stumbled upon someone's private confessions, but instead of feeling guilty, they said 'go ahead, read away'. Impatiently awaiting the next book!”
— Reader review on Amazon