In the foreword to Criminal, Caspar Walsh says: 'In one way or another, I've been involved with the British prison system for most of my life.' He was twelve years old when he started visiting his father,who was a thief and a drug dealer. At the age oftwenty, already addicted to drugs and alcohol himself,Caspar was arrested for drug dealing. Whilst in prison, he eventually entered a rehab programme and took stock of his life for the first time. He made the decision to break away from his past life and on leaving prison, he promised himself he'd never return.He ended up by breaking that promise, but in a way he could never have imagined: for the past twelve years he's been running creative writing workshops for prisoners, based on his own experience of using writing as a tool for self-development and renewal.