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Annual Prison Writing Contest
PEN America sponsors an annual writing contest for prisoners. Anyone incarcerated in a federal, state, or county prison in the year before the September 1 deadline is eligible to… More
PEN America Prison Writing Award Winners: 2022
For over three decades, hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works every year to PEN America’s annual Prison Writing Awards More
Can’t Win PEN
Brandon Amos was awarded 2nd Place in Drama in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic… More
Twenty Years In Solitary – A Play in 20 Acts
Alex Friedmann was awarded 1st Place in Drama in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic… More
Pain Management
Elizabeth Hawes was awarded an Honorable Mention in Nonfiction Memoir in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction,… More
Another Rainy Day, Hurray
Burl Corbett was awarded 1st Place in Nonfiction Memoir in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and… More
Caught Crossing, Caught Between — A Tale of Two Cities
Frank Kensaku Saragosa was awarded 1st Place in Nonfiction Essay in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction,… More
When Kneaded
C. Fausto Cabrera was awarded 2nd Place in Poetry in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and… More
Hating Daddy
John Adams was awarded an Honorable Mention in Nonfiction Memoir in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction,… More
Litany in Pairs
Chad Rand was awarded the Fielding Dawson Prize in Poetry in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction,… More
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