A Poor Imitation of Death is a complex and collaborative narrative about youth in prison: meshing photographs with the youth’s handwritten letters, poems, and artwork to create a unique and authentic voice that speaks about the realities of life in prison. It tells a harsh story: full of despair, raw emotion and injustice but also of incredible resilience, inner strength and huge potential for change. It indicts an inhumane and broken California prison system that has changed little over two decades.