Freewrite Curricula

If you teach in a carceral setting, or want to send a copy directly to an incarcerated writer, you can order free copies of this text through this form.

---

To receive PDFs of these curricula, please complete this form.

For more than five decades, the PEN Prison and Justice Writing (PJW) program has worked to amplify and liberate the voices of thousands of incarcerated writers through the written word. By providing resources and mentorship opportunities, we help these writers integrate into the broader literary community, both within and outside the prison walls.

In 2022 PJW added to our existing work with the publication of The Sentences that Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison which we are distributing for free to incarcerated writers thanks to the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.

Now, PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program announces a companion curriculum of writers’ workshops specifically tailored to the challenges of creating while incarcerated and guidance on how to establish and run a round table writing workshop. Co-written by formerly incarcerated authors Sterling Cunio, Michele Scott, Suotonye Deweaver, Zeke Caligiuri, founder of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, Jen Bowen, and founder of Prison Arts Collective, Annie Buckley, these two curricula center the specific needs and challenges of writing in community inside.

Like The Sentences that Create Us, the curricula are designed to foster community and assist incarcerated writers in refining their writing skills in community. They explain how to give peer review, editing strategies and publication information. One version is designed for use by facilitators already teaching writing inside. The second version is a self-directed curriculum that can be implemented without oversight and is designed for facility staff with limited time to help foster self-expression or for writers working without programmatic support.

These workshops have been tested by over 150 incarcerated writers in 10 states and were revised based on participant feedback. They are designed to be useful for people at all skill levels of reading and writing. Please see the recording of our release and training, facilitated by three pilot workshop leaders who explain the process of establishing a workshop, explain the benefits of the curricula and answer questions about implementation.