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

Yvette Louisell, “Prison Eulogies”

Second Place

Joe Ricky Knight, “An Escape Artist”

Third Place

Zachary Redfearne, “The Double Edge”

Dawson Prize

Donald Brevard, “Prison Walls”

 

Honorable Mentions

Jennifer Rich, “Dad’s Poem”

Jennifer Myers, “A Particular Sense of Peace”

Tammy Traber, “War”

John Byron Yarbrough, “The Season”

 

FICTION

First Place

Chris Everley, “Hook Island Traveller”

Second Place

Michael Hicks, “Gulfisland Ferry Road”

Third Place

William Van Poyck, “The Man from Far Away”

Dawson Prize

Rik Bogen, “Time Shifter”

 

Honorable Mentions

Joseph Burgeson, “Habits”

Samuel E. Harris, “The Last Dream of Plaquemines”

Shon Hopwood, “The News”

 

MEMOIR

First Place

Charles P. Norman, “Fighting the Ninja”

Second Place

Spoon Jackson, “Nowhere but Barstow and Prison”

Third Place

D. Babb, “Escape from A Maximum Security Jail”

Dawson Prize

Miriam McKenzie, “Another Heart Knew My Pain”

 

Honorable Mentions

Frederic Berthoff, “The Glass House”

Robert McKown, “Bobby’s Innocence”

Steven Small, “The Hunt”

 

Essay

First Place

Michael Rothwell, “Check Out Day”

Second Place

Hector Gallegos, “Species of a Lesser God”

Third Place

Eugene A. Dey, “Frontline Reflections of a Drug War Journalist”

 

Honorable Mentions

Dennis Forrest, “Prison and Poetry”

Arthur Longworth, “The Hole”

Charles Selby, “The Complicated Truth”

 

Drama

First Place

Jodi L. Serino, “Metamorphosis”

Second Place

Eugene Williams, “Fester”

Third Place

Paresh Patel, “A Felon and His Subconscious”

Dawson Prize

Matthew E. Raab, “Datura”

 

Honorable Mentions

Kenneth Milton, “Survival Lessons”

Santonio D. Murff, “The Cobra’s Cross”

Steve Curtis, “Georgia Clay”