PEN America Welcomes ‘Safekeeping Status” for Texas Prisoner-Journalist Whose Reporting Put His Safety at Risk
Moira Marquis, senior manager of PEN America’s Freewrite Project, expressed gratitude for supporters across the country who wrote to the Texas prison authorities on behalf of Walker. She said:… More
Character Development: A National Novel Writing Month Pep Talk
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
PEN America Prison and Justice Writing intern Charley Burlock interviews writer Emile DeWeaver. More
Record Label Die Jim Crow Gives Incarcerated Artists the Spotlight
PEN America intern Tomás Miriti Pacheco features Die Jim Crow Records, the first record label dedicated to incarcerated artists in the United States. More
Variations on an Undisclosed Location: 2022 Prison Writing Awards Anthology
This anthology represents the indispensable archive of the creativity and intellect of incarcerated writers. It also exists simultaneously as a vehicle of connection with the world and other incarcerated… 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
The Sentences That Create Us
A road map for incarcerated people and their allies to have a thriving writing life behind bars—and shared beyond the walls—that draws on the unique insights of more than… More
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PEN America On 
Free expression organization @PENamerica released a letter signed by more than a dozen other civil liberties organizations opposing federal legislation and proposals that seek to impose a wholesale ban on social media platform TikTok in US .
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a3ddb/restrict-act-insanely-broad-ban-tiktok-vpns
The superintendent says this ban of NINETEEN MINUTES and 13 other books not a ban. Explain to me how permanently REMOVING a book from a library shelf is not a ban? https://twitter.com/PENamerica/status/1641517467976474641
Yes. ND gov: "The teaching profession is challenging enough without the heavy hand of state government forcing teachers to take on the role of pronoun police." https://thehill.com/homenews/3926656-north-dakota-governor-vetoes-bill-restricting-transgender-students-pronouns/