Every year, hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN America’s Prison Writing Contest, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population. Manuscripts come to the Prison Writing Program in a variety of forms: Some are handwritten, some are typed, some are written in the margins of legal documents. Prizes of $250, $150, $100, $50, and $25 are awarded for first, second, third place, the Dawson Prize and honorable mentions, respectively, in each of the following categories:

POETRY

First Place

Gordon Grilz, “The Nature of Things”

Second Place

David Thomas, “Behind George Washington’s Face”

Third Place

Dominique Ramser, “Observations By Self”

 

Honorable Mentions

Bratt Jones, “Fairy Tales From the Depths of Hell”

Eric V. Reid, “She Makes Me Feel”

Kyle D. Sharp, “Where Fields Have Been Planted”

 

FICTION

First Place

Gary Farlow, “The Prison”

Second Place

John Byron Yarborough, “The Calm”

Third Place

Jorge Antonio Renaud, “The Restless of Bound Wrists”

 

Honorable Mentions

David Wood, “The Clockworks”

Gary Parks, “Peckerwood”

Curtis Petty, “Long Ago and Far Away”

 

MEMOIR

First Place

Paresh Patel, “The Longest Day”

Second Place

Joseph Urbaniak, “Lost Trust, Lost Friend”

 

Honorable Mentions

Gary Don Park, “All Day Singing With Dinner On The Grounds”

George Hughes, “I Still Remember”

 

DRAMA

First Place

John Whitfield, “Pro Se”

Second Place

David Warren Sligar, “Damage Control”

Third Place

Gary Farlow, “Sticks”

 

Dawson Prize

Julia Averitt, “Untitled”

 

Honorable Mention

Christian Allesandro Sierra, “Valor”