Every year, the PEN Prison Writing Program recognizes the work of writers imprisoned throughout the country. Exiled from our schools and society, inmates submit manuscripts in every form to one of the only forums of public expression for incarcerated writers. Presented below are uncensored writings from this year's Prison Writing Contest winners.
In her grief, my mother bought pants the same size as I wore in high school, forgetting that I had added thirty pounds in the past eighteen years, but I made do. In the mirror I adjusted my tie and stared at the well-dressed stranger who stared back at me. Who was that man? [More]
The United States cannot continue to demand compliance with human rights principles and norms abroad while it refuses to apply them here at home. [More]
The irony here is that probably no one knows who this Sanitos is or even who named this place. People read up on pariahs. We slobber over scandals, not saints. [More]
The yard was spotted with them, and still more were coming . . . Figures of charred and smoke-blackened flesh wrapped snugly in grey blankets, lying on the cold ground. [More] The Guilt Offering
by Sheila Ellenbogen
