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Bell Gale Chevigny (1936-2021): Critical Thinking and Grace
Throughout her life, Bell Gale Chevigny taught in prisons and advocated for educational opportunities for incarcerated communities. More
Remember This: On Celes Tisdale’s “When the Smoke Cleared: Attica Prison Poems and Journal”
Malcolm Tariq reviews Celes Tisdale's "When the Smoke Cleared: Attica Prison Poems and Journal" (Duke University Press, 2022). More
Character Development: A National Novel Writing Month Pep Talk
Writer William Myrl Smitherman writes a pep talk for incarcerated writers for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). More
On Pressing the Bounds of What’s Possible: A Conversation with Emile DeWeaver
PEN America Prison and Justice Writing intern Charley Burlock interviews writer Emile DeWeaver. More
The Cop in Your Head: On Andy West’s “The Life Inside”
PEN America's Tomás Miriti Pacheco reviews Andy West's "The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Philosophy" (Picador, 2022). More
Record Label Die Jim Crow Gives Incarcerated Artists the Spotlight
PEN America intern Tomás Miriti Pacheco features Die Jim Crow Records, the first record label dedicated to incarcerated artists in the United States. More
A Movement to Bend the Arc: Keeda J. Haynes’ Memoir on Second-Chance Culture
Emma Stammen reviews Keeda J. Haynes' memoir, "Bending the Arc: My Journey from Prison to Politics" (Seal Books, 2021). More
Multiplicity and Narratives of Confinement in “Faces of Resilience,” Presented by the Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia
PEN America intern Alexandra Fiorentino-Swinton reviews "Faces of Resilience," a show featuring artists who are justice-involved, presented by the Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia. More
PEN America Prison Writing Award Winners: 2021
Perhaps now, more than ever, the work of this contest is needed: to help melt calcified perceptions of who is incarcerated, to uplift the incredible literary voices stifled by… More
Necessary Unlearning: On Derecka Purnell’s ‘Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom’
Prison and Justice Writing Postgraduate Sophia Ramirez Fellow reviews Derecka Purnell’s "Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom." More