A Homeless History Lesson
Gary Farlow was awarded an Honorable Mention in Drama in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and… More
Horrible Brothers
Walter Sam was awarded an Honorable Mention in Drama in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and… More
Officer Sam Doesn’t Work Here, Anymore
Burl N. Corbett was awarded an Honorable Mention in Drama in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction,… More
Multiplicity and Narratives of Confinement in “Faces of Resilience,” Presented by the Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia
PEN America intern Alexandra Fiorentino-Swinton reviews "Faces of Resilience," a show featuring artists who are justice-involved, presented by the Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia. More
Introducing I am climbing the stairs that I create with these words all the way to the top: A NaPoWriMo Zine
PEN America's Sophia Ramirez introduces our newest Prison Writing poetry zine, "I am climbing the stairs that I create with these words all the way to the top," for… More
Introducing ‘Love Lay Dormant’: A 2021 Prison Writing NaNoWriMo Zine
Our Greater Constellations zine springs from the inspired poetic work created by members of our PEN America Prison Writing community during National Poetry Writing Month. More
Groundbreaking Essay Anthology on Writing Behind Bars Published
Today marks the publication of The Sentences that Create Us: Crafting a Writer’s Life in Prison (Haymarket Books), gathering stories and writing guidance from some of today’s most exciting… More
Prison and Justice Writing
PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing program amplifies the work of thousands of writers who are creating while incarcerated in the United States. More
The PEN Ten: An Interview with the 2021 PEN Prison Writing Award Winners
“Am I a writer imprisoned, or has imprisonment made me a writer? Parallel universes aside, imprisonment. . . does contain all the essential ingredients of a writer’s life.” More
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