Books Behind Bars | “Books for Prisoners” Self-Funds Operations for Three Years as Relatives and Friends “Order” Free Books
囚中書｜「眾囚書」自資運作三年 親友「下單」免費贈書
The book fair has ended, but at least eight books at the venue were “removed from sale”. Even outside prison walls, banned books are everywhere—in libraries, at book fairs and in bookshops—and the situation inside is even more restrictive. Jizhi Society interviewed Shiu Ka-chun, Emilia, the girlfriend of Lau Wing-kwong, and “Books for Prisoners”, which sends books free of charge to fellow prisoners, to find out what people inside are reading—and what they can read. Books may seem romantic, with their light, weightless words reaching everywhere. But getting books “over the wall” and into the hands of prisoners—from finding and buying the books to sending them in—can be a heavy burden for relatives and friends. “A book costs at least $100, and if you send in six a month, it’s not a small sum … Apart from the money, there’s also the time cost.” In view of this, Peng Ailie, known as Rizzy, established “Books for Prisoners” in 2021. Regardless of background and treating everyone equally, it provides books free of charge to all prisoners. Organisations supporting prisoners have successively folded in recent years. The volunteers at “Books for Prisoners” have persisted with self-funded operations for more than three years. To date, they have received more than 5,000 second-hand books and assist an average of more than ten families each month. Founder Rizzy was once imprisoned. He said calmly: “I remember very clearly the feeling of happiness when I read a good book inside.”
書展落幕，場內最少八本書「被下架」。即使在牆外，圖書館、書展、書店 … 禁書處處，牆內的世界更甚。《集誌社》訪問一直書寫囚涯的邵家臻、劉頴匡女友 Emilia、為囚友免費送書的「眾囚書」，了解牆內的他們，在讀甚麼？又能讀甚麼？ 書看似浪漫，輕飄飄的文字無遠弗屆，但要把書「翻牆」送到在囚人士手上，由找書、買書、入書 … 對家屬親友或是重擔，「一本書起碼一百，一個月入六本，條數都唔細 … 除左錢，仲有時間成本呢」。有見及此，彭艾烈 Rizzy 在 2021 年成立「眾囚書」，不計背景、一視同仁，為所有在囚人士免費提供書籍。 支援在囚者組織近年接連倒下，「眾囚書」一眾義工，堅持自費運作三年多，至今接收五千多本二手書，每月平均協助十多位家屬。創辦人 Rizzy 曾經是被囚的過路人，他淡然說「我好記得，喺裏面睇到一本好書，嗰份開心嘅感覺」