A Good Hiding in Braille

In Maghaberry prison there’s a braille unit, and the people who work there spend their days turning lots of different texts into braille. Everything from study texts to leaflets to novels. Last Friday I had the honour of seeing my book, A Good Hiding, in braille, when it was presented to Lisburn City library. It has been printed in four A4 volumes  as braille takes up a bit of space.

It was a really interesting afternoon. The braille users who I met spoke so enthusiastically about the skill of reading braille – the joy of being able to feel stories and read in the dark, and the practical applications of braille, enabling people to browse a menu at their leisure or simply find the toilets without help.

Mark Mooney, who runs the unit at Maghaberry, spoke about the skills involved in producing braille and how dedicated the prisoners needto be to produce quality  publications. The braille copy of my book also contains the printed words in large type so that it can be read alongside a reader with sight or used by someone who requires larger text.

From left: Gordon Flanaghan, Mark Mooney, Hazel Flanaghan, Me!, Margaret Mann, John Milburne, Susan Milburne, Davy Johnston, and, not pictured (because she was taking the pic), Diane McCready from the Library (thank you, Diane!)

Many thanks to everyone who made this happen, especially Susan Milburne, Margaret Mann, Mark Mooney and everyone who worked on the book itself. I am chuffed to bits to have my story made more accessible. Library users in NI can get it from the Lisburn City library, or your local library will be able to order it from them. The braille copy is not yet available to the rest of the UK but please let me know if you have trouble getting it and I will pass on any queries to Mark at the braille unit.