Reading for Justice will bring the Birmingham literary community together to explore themes of justice and reckon with the impact of mass incarceration. Local writers, activists, and Members join PEN America’s Writing for Justice fellows to celebrate the work of incarcerated writers and confront our era of mass incarceration.
This event is presented in partnership with Burdock Book Collective.
About PEN America’s Prison & Justice Writing Program
Founded in 1971, the PEN Prison Writing Program believes in the restorative, rehabilitative, and transformative possibilities of writing. We provide hundreds of imprisoned writers with free writing resources, skilled mentors, and audiences for their work. Our program supports free expression, and encourages the use of the written word as a legitimate form of power. We strive towards an increasingly integrative approach, aiming to amplify the voices and writing of imprisoned people to expand beyond the silo of prison, and identity of prisoner.
PEN America’s Writing for Justice Fellowship commissions writers—emerging or established—to create written works of lasting merit that illuminate critical issues related to mass incarceration and catalyze public debate. The Fellowship aims to harness the power of writers and writing in bearing witness to the societal consequences of mass incarceration by capturing and sharing the stories of incarcerated individuals, their families, communities, and the wider impact of the criminal justice system.