PEN America, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting free expression in the United States and worldwide through the defense of literature and human rights, is launching a digital site supporting Incarcerated Writers.

Incarcerated writers are important for the individual benefits they offer the writer like personal healing and rehabilitation, as well as the societal benefits they provide through prison journalism, which promotes transparency in the justice system, and enriching the literary world with unique perspectives. Their work allows them to reclaim their humanity and share their experiences, offering crucial insights into a system that is often opaque. 

Incarcerated writers have a long, impactful history in the American carceral system, providing vital transparency and critique through their lived experiences. Key incarcerated writers include:

• Malcolm X – The Autobiography of Malcolm X provided profound insight into systemic racism and the transformative power of literacy and resistance.
• Eldridge Cleaver – His seminal work Soul on Ice was written while incarcerated at Folsom State Prison. His essays offered a scathing confessional and analysis of race and politics in America, significantly influencing the Black Panther movement.
• Albert Woodfox – a member of the Angola Three, spent decades in solitary confinement and his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Solitary details his fight for justice and exposes the extreme conditions within Angola prison.
• Cyntoia Brown-Long – Author of Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System, a memoir about her wrongful conviction and fight for release.

PEN’s Prison and Justice Writing Program on Tuesday announced the launch of the Incarcerated Writers Bureau, an initiative developed with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and designed to “make the literary community more inclusive of writers behind bars.”

The new resource has a mission to help those in prison navigate the “dance of limited access and burdensome logistics.” It facilitates getting in touch with industry professionals and allows publishers and other outlets to promote opportunities for writers. It also offers advice and background on how, and how much writers in prison should be paid, the ethics of working with incarcerated writers and the challenges involving those who lack access to a computer or typewriter.

“For too long, powerful storytellers in prison have been left out of publishing and writing opportunities due to the challenges of connecting with the wider world,” Clarisse Rosaz Shariyf, co-interim CEO of PEN and chief program officer of the free expression organization’s Literary Programming, said in a statement.

Visit the Incarcerated Writers Bureau platform here —>>> Incarcerated Writers Bureau