2023 PEN America Prison Writing Contest Winners Announced
Robert Pollock, program manager for the Prison and Justice Writing program, said: “The extraordinary quality of the writing and their subject matter are evident in the judges’ choices. That… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Emerson Whitney
I see life through the lens of writing to the extent that I’m not exactly sure what life is if not a book? More
Twelve PEN America 2023 Emerging Voices Fellows Selected from Largest Applicant Pool Ever for Third Consecutive Year
Jared Jackson, director, Literary Programs and Emerging Voices, said: “This year’s amazing cohort of fellows explore issues and ideas including disability, acceptance, immigration, resistance, sex, gender, colonialism, industrialization, surveillance,… More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with Jane Wong
I think often of my familial ancestors and what trickled into me – were they poets too? More
On Bridgeworks Oregon’s “Prisons Have a Long Memory: Life Inside Oregon’s Oldest Prison”
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
Remember This: On Celes Tisdale’s “When the Smoke Cleared: Attica Prison Poems and Journal”
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”
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
Emma Stammen reviews Keeda J. Haynes' memoir, "Bending the Arc: My Journey from Prison to Politics" (Seal Books, 2021). More
“Do you really want to know why the caged bird sings?”: On Marlon Peterson’s Abolitionist Memoir
Emma Stamen reviews Marlon Peterson’s Abolitionist Memoir Bird Uncaged (Bold Type Books, 2021) More
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