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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

Character Development: A National Novel Writing Month Pep Talk

BlogOctober 19, 2022

Writer William Myrl Smitherman writes a pep talk for incarcerated writers for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). More

On Pressing the Bounds of What’s Possible: A Conversation with Emile DeWeaver

Blog
By: Charley Burlock | October 19, 2022

PEN America Prison and Justice Writing intern Charley Burlock interviews writer Emile DeWeaver. 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

Record Label Die Jim Crow Gives Incarcerated Artists the Spotlight

Blog
By: Tomás Miriti Pacheco | September 16, 2022

PEN America intern Tomás Miriti Pacheco features Die Jim Crow Records, the first record label dedicated to incarcerated artists in the United States. 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

Jazmyn Lawrence's The Creation of Me, a collage featuring an image of the artist on a background of yellow, red, and magenta

Multiplicity and Narratives of Confinement in “Faces of Resilience,” Presented by the Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia

Blog
By: Alexandra Fiorentino-Swinton | August 16, 2022

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

Blog
By: Sophia Ramirez | July 21, 2022

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

“Do you really want to know why the caged bird sings?”: On Marlon Peterson’s Abolitionist Memoir

Blog
By: Emma Stammen | July 20, 2022

Emma Stamen reviews Marlon Peterson’s Abolitionist Memoir Bird Uncaged (Bold Type Books, 2021) More

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jonfreadom Jonathan Friedman 📚 @jonfreadom ·
22h

Powerful thread on how educational censorship infringes on critical thinking about the past. https://twitter.com/JackieGardina/status/1619428644010733568

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penamerica PEN America @penamerica ·
17 Jan

🧵 Students retain their #FirstAmendment rights in schools. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District... the U.S. Supreme Court held that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

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penamerica PEN America @penamerica ·
14h

Author @haleshannon spoke about how books help teach children empathy at a #LetUtahRead event on January 25.

But this also happened. 🧵

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