Prison Writing Awards Anthology

Prison Writing Awards Anthology

For over three decades, every year hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN America’s Prison Writing Awards, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population.


Volumes

  • Thank the Bloom: 2023 Prison Writing Awards Anthology

    Inspired by past lovers, current partnerships, old family dynamics, and steadfast friendships that both transcend prison walls and persevere within them, this anthology illuminates the ways in which art cannot survive without community care at its core. 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 writers across the country. In a day and age of digitization and short attention spans, the physical presence of this book serves to confront the reader with the human writers who… More…

  • Visiting the Blues: 2021 Prison Writing Awards Anthology

    Visiting the Blues is an incredible collection of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama written during one of the toughest moments in our over-incarcerated nation’s history. More…

  • As I Hear the Rain: 2019 Prison Writing Awards Anthology

    For over three decades, every year hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN America’s Prison Writing Awards, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population. This, the 2nd annual volume of the Prison Writing Awards Anthology celebrates great writing in More…