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, $50, and $25 are awarded for first, second, third place, the Dawson Prize, and honorable mentions, respectively, in each of the following categories:
POETRY
First Place
Jorge Antonio Renaud, “Prison Moon”
Second Place
Joe R. Knight, “Observations From a Penitentiary Window”
Third Place
Malcolm Alexander King, “Sisyphus”
Dawson Prize
Lawrene Harris, “A Song of Death”
Honorable Mentions
Chris Early, “Sheryl”
Anthony La Fontant, “Cadaver”
Diane Hamill Metzger, “Panopticon”
Jonaki Ray, “Father”
Fiction
First Place
Terrance D. Robinson, “Mascara”
Second Place
Mark Smith, “Covenants”
Third Place
Emilio Alvarado, “The Horizon Rises”
Honorable Mentions
Leah Torres, “Suffer the Little Children“
Antonio C. Baca, “Life Under the Knife“
Steve Blanchard, “Huntsville Homecoming“
Memoir
First Place
David Lightner (Franklin D. Antill), “Journal of a Prisoner”
Second Place
Carl Berk, “Letter to a Daughter”
Third Place
Ralph Wilmas, “Labyrinth (excerpt)”
Dawson Prize
Tracy Atkins, “Horse the Caterpillar”
Honorable Mentions
John “Divine G” Whitfield, “The Whitfield Files”
Cocomo Rock, “Brother Oak”
Brigitte Paul, “Buddhism in Prison“
Essay
First Place
Christopher Best, “Live!—from Texas Death Row!”
Second Place
Charles Huckelbury, “Made in the U.S.A.”
Third Place
William Bryan Sorens, “Free Speech Wars”
Dawson Prize
Robert Talib Douglas, “Prisoners & the Wizard of Oz“
Honorable Mentions
Alden Redfield, “Life on the Flags”
Gene Hathom, “Countdown in Fear“
Daniel H. Harris, “Prison Sexuality“
Charles Norman, “Fifty Percent“
Drama
First Place
Brendan Cochrane and Joseph Assadourian, “Heaven“
Second Place
Santonio Murff, “The Cobra’s Cross“
Third Place
Tyrone Wyche, “Mrs. B’s Bracelets”
Dawson Prize
Walter Harmon, “Reflections in Resonance”
Honorable Mentions
Michael A. Cooke, “Technical Foul”
Hal Cobb, “The Spittin’ Image”
Arnold Thorpe, “Dialogue”