PEN America Prison Writing Award Winners: 2021
Perhaps now, more than ever, the work of this contest is needed: to help melt calcified perceptions of who is incarcerated, to uplift the incredible literary voices stifled by… More
Break Out: An Interview with Kaveh Akbar
A conversation with Kaveh Akbar, who will be performing Terry Hedin’s “El Reno” in our “Break Out” awards celebration, about the privilege and responsibility of performing another person’s work. More
Break Out: An Interview with TheaterLab’s Lanie Zipoy
A conversation with Lanie Zipoy about her curatorial process for our 2020 “Break Out” awards celebration, the challenges of organizing a digital literary event, and finding connection amidst isolation. More
PEN America Prison Writing Award Winners: 2020
Perhaps now, more than ever, the work of this contest is needed: to help melt calcified perceptions of who is incarcerated, to uplift the incredible literary voices stifled by… More
Prison Writing Committee
Our PEN America Prison Writing Committee is a group of dedicated volunteers whose primary task, among other engagements, is mining over 1,200 entries per year to judge the annual… More
Breakout: Voices From the Inside
Featuring award-winning prose and poetry from the 2015 PEN Prison Writing Contest, read by Khalil Cumberbatch, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Siri Hustvedt, Mitchell S. Jackson, Dawn Lundy Martin, Jeffrey Toobin,… More
PEN Applauds Experimental Funding for Inmate Education
Courses in education that build skill afford the only hope to change the course of direction for many caught in the downward spiral of these inhuman warehouses where people,… More
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PEN America On 
Meta's new prototype chatbot has told the BBC that the Mark Zuckerberg-led company "exploits people for money and he doesn't care. It needs to stop!"
Meta says the #AI chatbot can chat on "nearly any topic" but might produce rude or offensive answers. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62497674
UPDATE. Now being unbanned...
Following our outcry @PENamerica, the Alpine school district in UT will *no longer* be removing 52 books outright, but "temporarily restricting" them, so that parents can opt their kids into being allowed to read them if they so choose. #FReadom /1 https://twitter.com/PENamerica/status/1554209510134525952
The Vandegrift High School #BannedBookClub is one of many teen-led efforts nationwide.
“Teachers are afraid of losing their jobs,” @jonfreadom said. “Principals only have so much that they can do in the face of school boards. But students can protest. Students can speak out.”
