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
Erin George, “Origami Heart”
Second Place
Andrew Jaicks, “A Catholic Girl Gets a Telescope”
Third Place
Gail Leonard, “Whispers”
Dawson Prize
Zachary Redfearne, “After a Bomb Threat”
Honorable Mentions
JV Belot, “Green Pants”
Craig Rogers, “MM – Pas De Deux”
Michael McLean, “Mirrored Mirage”
FICTION
First Place
Brian Chase, “Willie en Las Cruces”
Second Place
Charles Huckelbury, “When Eddie Gets the Blues”
Third Place
Charles P. Norman, “World’s Oldest Prisoner”
Dawson Place
Melvin Weatherall, “A Town With No Name”
Honorable Mentions
Michael P. McLean, “The Seventh Sense”
Victor Hassine, “The Final Discharge”
Blaine Norris, “One Night Job”
MEMOIR
First Place
Richard Parker, “Land of Opportunity—Or Else”
Second Place
Ricky Quarles, “Why I Care”
Third Place
Mark D. McKenna, “Pictures Don’t Lie”
Dawson Place
Frank Serrano, “Too Young to Drive”
Honorable Mentions
Smokey W. Shadows, “The Voices”
John Yarbrough, “Shame”
Eugene Alexander Dey, “A Three-Strikes Sojourn”
ESSAY
First Place
Patricia Prewitt, “Contraband”
Second Place
Daniel B. Harris, “Dialogue With a Convict”
Third Place
Santonio Murff, “Banging For a Solution”
Honorable Mentions
Jose Boner, “Poetical Muralism”
Robert E. Baker, “The Faith and Character Program”
Matthew L. Baker, “Arrests in America: Fuzzy Math”
DRAMA
First Place
Laos Schman, “Sisters”
Second Place
John Corley, “Time Served or Conversatin’ Wi’ De Dade”
Third Place
Dennis Forrest, “In the Beginning”
Honorable Mentions
Tyrone Wyche, “Son of a Ghost”
John “Divine G” Whitfield, “Cell 13”