Breakout: Voices from the Inside 2018

Authors and activists raised their voices to uplift those of the imprisoned, whose writing represents resistance and triumph, and provides revelatory insight to the lives of the incarcerated. Experience the work of PEN Prison Writing award winners brought to life by Raquel Almazan, Julia Steele Allen, asha bandele, Donna Hylton, Mitchell S. Jackson, Liza Jessie Peterson, Alejo Rodriguez and Demian Vitanza.

View photos from the event

Founded in 1971, the PEN Prison Writing Program believes in the restorative, rehabilitative and transformative possibilities of writing. We provide hundreds of imprisoned writers across the country with free writing resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their work. Our program supports free expression, and encourages the use of the written word as a legitimate form of power. We strive towards an increasingly integrative approach, aiming to amplify the voices and writing of imprisoned people to expand beyond the silo of prison, and identity of prisoner.