Every year, hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN America’s Prison Writing Contest, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population. Manuscripts come to the Prison Writing Program in a variety of forms: Some are handwritten, some are typed, some are written in the margins of legal documents. Prizes of $250, $150, $100, $50, and $25 are awarded for first, second, third place, the Dawson Prize, and honorable mentions, respectively, in each of the following categories:

POETRY

First Place

Erin George, “Origami Heart”

Second Place

Andrew Jaicks, “A Catholic Girl Gets a Telescope”

Third Place

Gail Leonard, “Whispers”

Dawson Prize

Zachary Redfearne, “After a Bomb Threat”

 

Honorable Mentions

JV Belot, “Green Pants”

Craig Rogers, “MM – Pas De Deux”

Michael McLean, “Mirrored Mirage”

 

FICTION

First Place

Brian Chase, “Willie en Las Cruces”

Second Place

Charles Huckelbury, “When Eddie Gets the Blues”

Third Place

Charles P. Norman, “World’s Oldest Prisoner”

Dawson Place

Melvin Weatherall, “A Town With No Name”

 

Honorable Mentions

Michael P. McLean, “The Seventh Sense”

Victor Hassine, “The Final Discharge”

Blaine Norris, “One Night Job”

 

MEMOIR

First Place

Richard Parker, “Land of Opportunity—Or Else”

Second Place

Ricky Quarles, “Why I Care”

Third Place

Mark D. McKenna, “Pictures Don’t Lie”

Dawson Place

Frank Serrano, “Too Young to Drive”

 

Honorable Mentions

Smokey W. Shadows, “The Voices”

John Yarbrough, “Shame”

Eugene Alexander Dey, “A Three-Strikes Sojourn”

 

ESSAY

First Place

Patricia Prewitt, “Contraband”

Second Place

Daniel B. Harris, “Dialogue With a Convict”

Third Place

Santonio Murff, “Banging For a Solution”

 

Honorable Mentions

Jose Boner, “Poetical Muralism”

Robert E. Baker, “The Faith and Character Program”

Matthew L. Baker, “Arrests in America: Fuzzy Math”

 

DRAMA

First Place

Laos Schman, “Sisters”

Second Place

John Corley, “Time Served or Conversatin’ Wi’ De Dade”

Third Place

Dennis Forrest, “In the Beginning”

 

Honorable Mentions

Tyrone Wyche, “Son of a Ghost”

John “Divine G” Whitfield, “Cell 13”