Works of Justice
Works of Justice is a monthly newsletter from PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing that spotlights key figures, writers, and artists who are critically reshaping the conversation on mass incarceration, advocacy, and justice in the United States.
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Inquiries may be sent to Malcolm Tariq ([email protected]), senior manager of editorial projects for Prison and Justice Writing.
Works of Justice Blog Posts
An Interview with Prison Library Support Network
PLSN coordinators Manuela Aronofsky and Mia Bruner discuss the process of receiving and answering reference letters from prison. More
Lacino Hamilton on Intentionality and the Language of Justice
Lacino Hamilton, author of "In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom," speaks with PEN America's "Works of Justice" podcast about the intentionality of language… More
Unsealed: In Spite of Prison Walls
In e-messages sent from a Michigan prison, writer Leo Carmona describes the value of finding and losing community between facility transfers. More
Jennifer Baker on Restorative Justice in Young Adult Fiction
Jennifer Baker, author of "Forgive Me Not," speaks with PEN America's "Works of Justice" podcast about how she wrote restorative justice into her young adult novel. More
Unsealed: On That Old Rock Pile Prison Quilt Project
In this essay, Jeff Elmore explains his process of making paper collage quilts in prison, which he sends to anyone interested in receiving them. More
Introducing The Freewrite Project Zine
PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program presents a zine featuring work from creative writing workshop participants in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The workshops were framed around curriculum developed… More
Turning Sentences Around
In this Works of Justice exclusive, Robert Lee Williams reflects on how PEN America's "The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer's Life in Prison" (Haymarket Books, 2022) helped… More
On Prison Art and Music
PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Program Manager Robbie Pollock highlights three projects centered on making music from prison: Heartbeat Opera, Die Jim Crow Records, and a recent book… More
A Conversation with Brooklyn Public Library’s Justice Initiatives Program
PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Fellow Valentina Flores speaks with Brooklyn Public Library's Diego Sandoval-Hernandez on the work and offerings of library's Justice Initiatives Program. More
Against Retribution: An Interview with Daniel Pirkel
In this interview, Daniel Pirkel speaks with PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program about unnecessary policies that censor the work of incarcerated writers, and advocates for restorative justice… More