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, and $25 are awarded for first, second, third place, and honorable mention, respectively, in each of the following categories:
POETRY
First Place
Albert Altimari, “One-Legged Walter“
Second Place (tie)
Precious Bedell, “Run”
Henry Louis Michel, “Shedding Skin”
Third Place
Charles Dailey, “Sleeping Under the Whitehurst”
Honorable Mentions
Susan Deering, “Poem to God”
Christomer Presfield, “Be As Dark”
Gregory Holmes, “Visitation”
Anthony LaBarca Falcone, “City Dwellers”
FICTION
First Place
Paul Thunder Belcourt, “Reservation Superman”
Second Place (tie)
Scott Antworth, “Shortimer’s Sunrise”
Richard Early Young, “Strong Delusion”
Third Place
Terrance D. Robinson, “Sonchai’s Dance”
Honorable Mentions
Stephen Danforth, “A Prection of Dangerousness”
Cary Nichols, “Pandemonium”
MEMOIR
Award Winner
Paul J. Betts, Jr., “Flattop for Cherry Hill“
Honorable Mention
Dervin Bowman, “Ghost in the Machine”
ESSAY
First Place
David Taber, “Abraham’s Son”
Second Place
Joe Micelli, “After the Rainfall”
Third Place
Robert Paradise, “Kill the Criminal”
Honorable Mention
Daniel Harr, “The New Slavery Movement”