Celebrating the release of the 2019 PEN America Prison Writing Awards Anthology, PEN America and The Poetry Project present an evening of exceptional work from currently incarcerated writers, staged by a series of dynamic authors, actors and activists.

Part 1 of 2

Cortney Lamar Charleston reads Self Portrait As State Property by P.M. Dunne (00:20)

Margo Jefferson reads “Thorazine, Haldol & Coffee: My Life in a Prison Mental Health Ward,” by Michael Kaiser (03:58)

T Kira Madden reads “My Co-Worker,” Edward Ji (14:50)

Shaun Leonardo reads "Geode" by David A. Pickett (15:33)

Rachel Eliza Griffiths reads “Time Reversal Invariance" by David Pickett (26:55)

Kevin Boone, Tamika Graham, Milton Jones, Paul Kim, and

Edwin Santan perform “Never 2 Late” by John Benjamin (29:00)

T Kira Madden reads "Under the Bridge" by Christiana Justice (42:15)

Robert Pollock reads "Monologue" by Sean Thomas Dunne (45:41)