C. Fausto Cabrera

I am a serious person who does not take themselves too serious. I’m bout this creative lifestyle & am not afraid to do the work. Art is the only avenue I’ve found that could restore my dignity. “I’m from the dark. I was already a man by the time I saw the light, and then it was just blinding.”

Winner, 2022 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – 2nd Place in Poetry for “When Kneaded”

Winner, 2020 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – Fielding Dawson Prize in Poetry

2016 PEN America Prison Writing Contest – Honorable Mention in Poetry for “A Ladybug’s Visit


Articles by C. Fausto Cabrera

Prison and Justice Writing
Friday August 9

C. Fausto Cabrera and Zeke Caligiuri on Precarity and Critical Resistance

C. Fausto Cabrera and Zeke Caligiuri speak with PEN America’s “Works of Justice” podcast about bringing writing programs into Minnesota prisons and editing “America Precariat” while incarcerated.

Prison and Justice Writing
Wednesday September 7

When Kneaded

C. Fausto Cabrera was awarded 2nd Place in Poetry 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. I sit to design

Prison and Justice Writing
Monday November 16

Free Press

“I learned long ago about taking the bait of free press and the dangers of falling into the sea of an open paper with its bias beaches.”