About
With the proliferation of carceral censorship and surveillance, incarceration in the United States remains one of the defining free expression issues of our time.
The Incarcerated Writers Bureau was developed by PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program to make professional and artistic development opportunities more accessible to and for writers working from prisons across the United States. Launched in 2025, this platform features a database of best practices and ethical considerations for working with, supporting, and being in community with writers through prison walls.
The Incarcerated Writers Bureau features the portfolios and work of seasoned writers working from prison, and also contains a submission hub of accessible opportunities tailored for writers experiencing incarceration.
The Problem
While the internet has made it easier for writers to submit and share their work, people in prison have restricted and monitored digital communication and no email.
Many facilities have implemented mail scanning and digitization procedures that disrupt how writers on the inside access literary opportunities and discourage editors, publishers, and media outlets from working with these writers.
The IWB Approach
The Incarcerated Writers Bureau was developed with the mission to make professional opportunities more accessible to writers incarcerated in the United States by providing industry professionals with practical information to work with writers who live in prison.
In working toward the goal of making the literary community more inclusive, IWB provides the following resources:
A searchable roster of experienced writers detailing geographical regions, genres, previous publications, and areas of interest that enable users to identify relevant writers for initiatives and commissioned work.
Learning resources offering best practices to support literary professionals, multimedia platforms, and public interest organizations in bringing the work and voices of incarcerated writers to wider audiences.
A regularly updated submissions database listing of forthcoming calls for submissions, which will also be distributed in a tri-annual print newsletter.
PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program
Founded in the wake of the 1971 Attica Riots, PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program has a deep history of serving the artistic needs of writers incarcerated in the United States by providing resources, mentoring, and opportunities to connect with audiences beyond prison walls.
We achieve this through the following initiatives:
The PEN Prison Writing Awards annually recognizes exceptional work submitted by writers in prisons across the United States. Winners in all genres—including poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama—receive cash prizes and are published in an annual anthology of award work. Learn more about the awards and purchase anthologies here.
PEN America’s The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting A Writer’s Life in Prison (Haymarket Books, 2022) provides a road map for incarcerated people and their allies to have a thriving writing life that draws on the unique insights of more than fifty contributors, most themselves justice-involved, to offer advice, inspiration and resources. PEN America sends copies of this handbook into prisons along with the companion Freewrite Curriculum for facilitating creative writing workshops in prison. Learn more about The Sentences That Create Us here.
Recipients of the PEN Prison Writing Awards are invited to receive mentorship from writers on the outside to work toward individualized literary goals, cultivating an engaged community behind and through the walls. Learn how to be a mentor here.
Frequently Asked Questions
The writers in the IWB were chosen based on demonstrated history of publication and expertise, as well as being nominated based on professional merit by individuals and organizations that work with incarcerated writers. Several of the writers in the IWB have been previously involved with PEN America, either in the submission of pieces for the PEN Prison Writing Contest, or participation in mentorship or fellowship programs.
The best way to contact a writer will vary based on institutional restrictions and personal preference, and is highlighted within their profile. For example, some writers may only be able to receive physical mail, while others will have the option to digitally message through JPAY or another information technology program. We highly encourage you to visit our resource section to better understand how to most successfully communicate through the walls.
Writers featured on the IWB site are selected through direct invitation and nomination from other prison writing-focused organizations.
Writing Networks
The Prison and Justice Writing Program and the Incarcerated Writers Bureau are two resources in a network of organizations dedicated to working with writers in prison. The following list contains collaborators who are committed to creating space for this community of writers. Please visit their websites to learn more about their work and the writers they support.
Empowerment Avenue is a nonprofit collective founded in 2020 by Rahsaan “New York” Thomas and Emily Nonko to support and empower incarcerated writers, visual artists, and filmmakers within the creative economy. The agency facilitates inside-outside partnerships and helps to reduce the barriers to collaborating with and compensating incarcerated people.
Inquest, a publication of the Institute to End Mass Incarceration, is a forum for advancing bold ideas to end mass incarceration in the United States. The platform publishes original, insightful work by thinkers and doers across a broad range of experience and expertise, united in the belief that mass incarceration is an epic injustice that can and must urgently end.
Stay Connected
Join the mailing list for PEN America’s Prison and Justice Writing Program to learn more about working in service of incarcerated writers.
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