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Unsealed: The Blood and Ink of the Prison Pen

Blog
By: Leo Cardez, Jess Abolafia | March 16, 2023

Leo Cardez reflects on the limited resources available to incarcerated writers by explaining what it's like to use a "prison pen." More

On Bridgeworks Oregon’s “Prisons Have a Long Memory: Life Inside Oregon’s Oldest Prison”

Blog
By: Moira Marquis | March 16, 2023

Moira Marquis reviews Tracy D. Schlapp and Danny Wilson's "Prisons Have a Long Memory: Life Inside Oregon's Oldest Prison" (Bridgeworks Oregon, 2022). More

Where It Hurts: How Book Bans Restrict Access to Healthcare

Blog
By: Kwaneta Harris | March 16, 2023

Kwaneta Harris explains how book bans restrict people who are incarcerated from learning about their reproductive health and other areas of healthcare. More

The Speaking Archive: Words from the House of the Dead

Blog
By: Valentina Flores | February 16, 2023

Valentina Flores finds a 1971 anthology by incarcerated writers at Interference Archive, a community-based organization in Brooklyn, New York City. More

What’s Mildred Taylor Got to Do With It?: Race, Prison Book Bans, and the Power in Storytelling

Blog
By: Moira Marquis | February 16, 2023

In this essay on prison book bans, Moira Marquis uses "The 1619 Project" to explain how limiting access to Black history and culture is deleterious to people who are… More

Introducing “Unsealed:” Inside the Letters of PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program

Blog
By: Jess Abolafia | February 16, 2023

Jess Abolafia on the challenges of communication through prison walls via physical, handwritten mail. More

Bell Gale Chevigny (1936-2021): Critical Thinking and Grace

Obituary
By: Susan Rosenberg | January 18, 2023

Throughout her life, Bell Gale Chevigny taught in prisons and advocated for educational opportunities for incarcerated communities. More

Black and white photograph of Celes Tisdale next to a cover his book "When the Smoke Cleared" on a yellow backdrop

Remember This: On Celes Tisdale’s “When the Smoke Cleared: Attica Prison Poems and Journal”

Blog
By: Malcolm Tariq | November 17, 2022

Malcolm Tariq reviews Celes Tisdale's "When the Smoke Cleared: Attica Prison Poems and Journal" (Duke University Press, 2022). More

The Cop in Your Head: On Andy West’s “The Life Inside”

Blog
By: Tomás Miriti Pacheco | September 20, 2022

PEN America's Tomás Miriti Pacheco reviews Andy West's "The Life Inside: A Memoir of Prison, Family and Philosophy" (Picador, 2022). More

A Movement to Bend the Arc: Keeda J. Haynes’ Memoir on Second-Chance Culture

Blog
By: Emma Stammen | August 17, 2022

Emma Stammen reviews Keeda J. Haynes' memoir, "Bending the Arc: My Journey from Prison to Politics" (Seal Books, 2021). More

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PEN America Speaks: How We Defended and Celebrated Free Expression This Week
PEN America/PEN International: Chinese Authorities Should Immediately Release Blogger Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison
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penamerica PEN America @penamerica ·
1h

Parts of Twitter’s source code were leaked online and appear to have been public for at least several months, raising fears that hackers or other motivated parties could exploit security vulnerabilities to extract user data or take down the site. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/26/technology/twitter-source-code-leak.html

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digiphile Alex Howard @digiphile ·
8h

Lewinsky is one of many public figures in the USA who will face impersonation if @Twitter goes ahead with Musk’s unwise plan to [email protected] people & organizations who don’t pay for @TwitterBlue.
(It will be worse in other nations, given
@TwitterSafety & @TwitterSupport capacity.) https://twitter.com/MonicaLewinsky/status/1639972616210632708

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penamerica PEN America @penamerica ·
9h

[email protected] discussed the cancellation of a class at @EasternFlorida after a student felt "discomfort" over a discussion of civil rights, highlighting the chilling effect to the Florida academic system of Ron DeSantis' yet-to-be-implemented #StopWOKEAct. https://www.msnbc.com/alex-wagner-tonight/watch/florida-student-s-discomfort-causes-cancellation-of-civil-rights-class-166822981602

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