Prison & Justice Writing
For more than four decades, PEN America’s Prison Writing Program has amplified the writing of thousands of imprisoned writers by providing free resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their writing. We are proud to share our deepening commitment to confronting our era of mass incarceration with the launch of the PEN America Writing For Justice Fellowship. Read below for more information about our initiatives.
Works of Justice Publications
Works of Justice is an online series that features content connected to the PEN America Prison and Justice Writing Program, reflecting on the relationship between writing and incarceration, and presenting challenging conversations about criminal justice in the United States.
In response to the pandemic, we’ve launched Temperature Check: Covid-19 Behind Bars, a new rapid response series featuring original creative reportage by incarcerated writers, accompanied by podcast interviews with criminal justice reform experts on the pandemic’s impact in United States’ prisons.
Writing for Justice Fellowship
PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship commissions writers—emerging or established—to create written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate. Learn more about the current Fellows »
Prison Writing Program
Founded in 1971, the PEN Prison Writing Program believes in the restorative, rehabilitative and transformative possibilities of writing. We provide hundreds of imprisoned writers across the country with free writing resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their work. Our program supports free expression, and encourages the use of the written word as a legitimate form of power. We strive towards an increasingly integrative approach, aiming to amplify the voices and writing of imprisoned people to expand beyond the silo of prison, and identity of prisoner.
Download a printable PDF copy of our offerings.
Handbook for Writers in Prison
PEN’s Handbook for Writers in Prison features detailed guides on the art of writing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays—an invaluable resource for any writer. Each year, thousands of free copies are sent to incarcerated men and women.
Annual Prison Writing Contest
Every year hundreds of imprisoned writers from around the country submit poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and dramatic works to PEN’s Prison Writing Contest, one of the few outlets of free expression for the country’s incarcerated population.
Mentorship Program
Consisting of more than 250 mentors working with close to 250 incarcerated writers, PEN America’s Prison Writing Mentorships continues to be the most interactive and engaging project in the Prison Writing Program.
The Prison Writing Contest Prizes are sponsored by the generous support of the Greenburger Center for Social & Criminal Justice.
Programming for PEN America’s Prison Writing Program is made possible in part by generous funding from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Read Award-Winning Works from the PEN Prison Writing Contest
What’s Prison Like?
“What? Tell me I’m lying. Fuck. I love sex, drugs, and rock & roll. It just hasn't worked out for me.” More
In Response to Loneliness
your red insides a slue of sourness from all that turning lemon into lemonade which seems to only work for Beyonce and skinny white women in lipstick ads. More
Shadows and Shades
“I picked up the mirror and saw a shift as I thought about my wounded life—the wounds that came from wanting to be someone who I am not.” More
Eugene Cernan, Last Man on the Moon
Tiny metal womb falling through unended dark, captured by gray cratered daughter Moon, Earth heart torn free. More
Man of Few Words
“I’ll be here until I die. I release you. You’re a man, still young. The girls are soon off to college. Junior’s in highschool. Find someone who’ll love our… More
Meena in Captivity
Meena learned to paint elephants roaming the savanna, learned she couldn't be one. More
Little Gardens
“The older I get the more constricting I find the hetero mask to be. Committing this to paper is, then, something of a coming-out party.” More
What I Would Like to Hear
“I hear a Kawasaki ZRX and a strumming of a bass guitar coming from a few houses down and someone speaking Spanish as I turn the page to the… More
Breathe into the Ground
“This time... this time you breathed into the ground so your children wouldn’t hear your startled sobs that escaped from your chest as you thought about your friend.” More
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Thank you to everyone who has joined us for You Are A Writer - a series of free workshops on the business of books. Don't miss our very last workshop next Wednesday on the ins and outs of literary representation: https://bit.ly/3632vdL.
Michael Pack resigned Wednesday as the CEO of the federal agency over the Voice of America and other federally funded international broadcasters after a turbulent seven-month tenure. https://n.pr/39279e2
In an op-ed for @washingtonpost, @KarenAttiah condemns the “willful moral malpractice” of media outlets coddling white supremacists and other extremists during the last four years, including the racism and lies of Trump. https://wapo.st/3o4IDxc