Alex Friedmann

Alex Friedmann, a three-time recipient of PEN Prison Writing Awards is the former managing editor of Prison Legal News, former resources editor of Prison Life Magazine, and current thorn in the side of the prison administration at the facility where he is incarcerated. He is an occasional poet, and writes temperamental plays.

2025 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – Honorable Mention in Essay for “Birds of a Felonious Feather”

2022 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – 1st Place in Drama for “Twenty Years In Solitary – A Play in 20 Acts

1999 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – 1st Place in Drama for “The Row”


Articles by Alex Friedmann

A graphic for the 2022 Prison Writing Awards features categories Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Drama over a dark abstract background with blue illustrations of a house and a person behind bars.
Prison and Justice Writing
Wednesday September 7

Twenty Years In Solitary – A Play in 20 Acts

Alex Friedmann was awarded 1st Place in Drama in the 2022 Prison Writing Contest. Every year, hundreds of imprisoned people 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. Production Notes: This play is