At the event Breakout: Voices from Inside, Talib Kweli, Junot Diaz, Lisa Dierbeck, Wahida Clark, Sean Dalpiaz, and Wally Lamb read selections from past winners of PEN’s Prison Writing Program.

Proceeds from the event and raffle help ensure that PEN’s hallmark program continues to promote the restorative and rehabilitative power of writing by providing hundreds of inmates with skilled writing teachers, free Handbooks for Writers in Prison, and a forum where inmates are encouraged to use the written word as a legitimate form of power.