When Rowan Thompson began working at PEN America in the Prison and Justice Writing program, they were eager to make a difference in the lives of incarcerated people. However, it wasn’t long before Thompson noticed serious signs of misalignment between staffers and management, leading quickly to frustration and disillusionment.
PEN’s decades-old prison programming lacks the organization and infrastructure to effectively communicate with and pay incarcerated writers
On April 22, PEN America officially announced the cancellation of this year’s PEN America Literary Awards, the annual awards honoring literature’s greatest talents dubbed as “the Oscars for books.” Days later, the organization announced it was canceling the World Voices Festival, another flagship event that was scheduled for
It started with a tweet. “I won the @PENamerica Prison Writing Contest in 2022 and never received the $250 prize, even after much back and forth via email, which continues to this day. I know of at least one other first place winner who never received their prize money, either,
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