Book Launch: The Image They Had Painted

Thursday, January 22, 2026

6:00 PM MST / 7:00 PM CST / 8:00 PM EST – Online

Hosted by Publication Studio Guelph

Join us online on Thursday, January 22, at 8 pm EST for the launch of Joesph Patri Brown’s book, The Image They Had Painted. Register at this link

The Image They Had Painted details the experiences of Mississippi’s most disenfranchised and marginalized people, those living on death row. After more than thirty years of flailing in the murky whirlpools of the criminal justice system, Joesph Patri Brown uses any lifeline available to seek a better quality and quantity of life upon these troubled waters.

Across 18 memoir vignettes and five poems, Brown offers a sharp critique of a system that insists he should be caged—and ultimately killed. His intimate reflections refuse the logics that render certain lives expendable, exposing the death penalty not as justice, but as a sustained practice of state violence. Language becomes here an act of resistance, testimony, and care.

This online launch will feature readings by Joesph Patri Brown, followed by a conversation with Joesph, collaborators, advocates, and publishers whose work is deeply entangled with abolitionist struggle and collective care:

* Alison Turner, The GOAT PoL

* Sonia Preisler, Publication Studio Guelph

* Curtis Walker, Publication Studio Guelph

* Liz McCann, Humans Remain

* Lauren Rhoades, Rooted

Published by Publication Studio Guelph in partnership with The GOAT PoL, this is not a conventional book. Shaped through rigorous editorial labour, intentional design, and abolitionist commitment, The Image They Had Painted insists that stories from death row belong not at the margins, but at the centre of our moral and political reckoning.

We invite you to join us for an evening of celebration, listening, witnessing, and solidarity.

The event will be hosted on Zoom in a webinar format. Register now at this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_csQtd-lOTFCIC3jIEjaDlA#/registration

On January 22nd the book will be available to purchase worldwide at publicationstudio.biz