Interview by Leigh Sales, Digital producer Amy Sherden.

Ten years after deciding to carry a bag of money for a drug cartel, Piper Kerman entered the US prison system.

When she finished university in her early 20s, she got caught up with a woman she felt was incredibly sophisticated and worldly, and whom she eventually discovered was involved in narcotics.

Instead of running off and finding better friends, Kerman followed the older woman all over the world.

When she was asked to carry a bag of drug money, she crossed the imaginary line in the sand that she never thought she would cross.

It was some time later before she was actually charged; Kerman plead guilty and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

There, surrounded by hundreds of other women, most from far less privileged backgrounds than her own, she understood that her experience was not just about the consequences of her crime, but part of a much bigger issue.

Her memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, topped the New York Times bestseller list and inspired the international hit Netflix series.

Kerman is in Sydney for the All About Women festival at the Opera House. She spoke with 7.30’s Leigh Sales ahead of her appearance.

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