Death Row Literature

Each poem in Death Row Literature was written by Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, a Malaysian on death row in Changi Prison for more than a decade. Pannir wrote while sitting on the cold floor, with no table or chair, using a pile of old court documents as his desk and only a few sheets of paper, with no pen to hold—only the bare ink refill, gripped in hand, to shape his words. These poems are born from unimaginable pain—the kind that comes from living each day with the shadow of death just steps away. They are raw, honest, and deeply human. This collection is not just poetry—it is a voice from behind bars, a cry from a condemned cell, and a testament to the strength of the human spirit.