Every year, hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN America’s Prison Writing Contest, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population. Manuscripts come to the Prison Writing Program in a variety of forms: Some are handwritten, some are typed, some are written in the margins of legal documents. Prizes of $250, $150, $100, and $25 are awarded for first, second, third place, and honorable mention, respectively, in each of the following categories:
POETRY
First Place
Marilyn Buck, “Too Dark”
Second Place
Charles Goldblum, “His Loss”
Third Place (tie)
Christopher Presfield, “American Gray”
Jorge Antonion Renaud, “This Time, This Time”
Honorable Mentions
Milton E. McCoy, “I Stand Alone In the Rubble…”
Gordon Grilz, “The Distance Between Us”
Sachio Ko-Yin, “Mr. Andretti To His Wife”
FICTION
First Place
Phillip S. Barcia, “After the War”
Second Place (tie)
Jorgen Antonio Renaud, “The Zoom”
Gary Parks, “A Horseshoer’s Christmas”
Third Place
Michael Wayne Hunter, “No Quarter”
Honorable Mentions
John V. Hearne, “Freed”
Edmund Powers, “Donations”
W.W. Nichols, “Captain Jack & the Notorious Nav”
MEMOIR
First Place
Anthony La Barca Falcone, “The Revelation of Irreparable Damage”
Second Place
D.L. Youngblood, “Cowboy Philosophy”
Honorable Mentions
Mark Chanchdo, “Where the Food’s Gone…”
Marilyn Buck, “Women in Prison and Work”
Kenneth Hart, “Christmas Tree”
ESSAY
First Place
David Hargrove, “Something Wicked This Way Came”
Second Place
Jorge Antonio Renaud, “Analysis of a Lockdown”
Third Place
Dyanne Petersen, “Sex Behind Bars”
Drama
First Place
Tyrone Wyche, “After a Driveby”
Second Place
Phillip Aver, “Rats in a Maze”
Third Place
Paul Ferguson, “Everything That’s Cool”
Honorable Mention
Willie T. Sutton, “The Wino & the Junkie”