The Incarcerated Writers Bureau was launched in 2025 by PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program as a digital resource for publishing, journalism, academic, and nonprofit professionals seeking to work with incarcerated writers in the United States. The mission of the Incarcerated Writers Bureau is to foster inclusivity in the literary community by making creative and professional opportunities more accessible for writers working from prison.
The website features a database of best practices and ethical considerations for working with, supporting, and being in community with writers through prison walls. Though not an agency representing writers, the Incarcerated Writers Bureau features the profiles and work of writers working from prison, and also contains a submission hub of accessible creative and professional opportunities tailored for writers experiencing incarceration.
The Incarcerated Writers Bureau was developed with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The digital experience was designed, imagined, and developed by Zealous, a national initiative dedicated to reshaping public understanding through the perspectives, expertise, and stories of historically overlooked voices.
The Incarcerated Writers Bureau helps to bridge the gap that has long existed between incarcerated writers and publishers. I’m honored to partner with organizations like PEN America to help shift the incorrect narrative that incarcerated writers aren’t talented or professional enough to make it in the publishing world. The literary canon bursts with human beings who penned masterpieces while locked in cages. We’re here to continue that good work, to enrich society on both sides of the wall.
P.M. Dunne, PEN Prison Writing Award Winner
Featured Writers
Christopher William Blackwell
Demetrius Buckley
BC Kim
Curtis Dawkins
Ivié DeMolina
P.M. Dunne
Juan Moreno Haines
Elizabeth Hawes
Patrick Irving
Jevon Jackson
Spoon Jackson
Catherine LaFleur
John J. Lennon
Eduardo “Echo” Martinez
Lyle C. May
Matthew Mendoza
Justin Rovillos Monson
Corey “Al-Ameen” Patterson
Leonard Scovens
Derek R. Trumbo, Sr.
George T. Wilkerson