PEN America Condemns Move to Limit Incarcerated Writers' Ability to Publish

PEN America has announced its opposition to a proposed directive from the New York Department of Corrections (NYDOC) would significantly limit the ability of incarcerated writers to publish.

On May 11, the NYDOC announced Directive 4406, which would prohibit people incarcerated in New York from submitting their work to writing contests without individual permission from the Commissioner of New York’s prison system, or someone designated by the Commissioner.

Additionally, organizations such as PEN America would be required to obtain approval from the DOC’s Director of Education to run contests, such as PEN America’s Annual Prison Writing Contest, which has been conducted for the past 50 years. Contest winners could not collect prize money. Instead, that money will be given to the New York State Office of Victim Services, regardless of whether their writing addressed the crimes for which they were convicted.

In a statement, Moira Marquis, senior manager of PEN America’s Freewrite Project, said that "Directive 4406 would essentially freeze PEN America’s ability to publish incarcerated writers work, which we have done for decades, believing they have the right to express themselves and cultivate literacy, writing craft and creativity."