Writers in US jails to connect with rest of literary world through new PEN America website
Now, writers in US prisons will have a way to display their literary works to the authors across the prison walls and to the public through a website managed by PEN America.
PEN America work for literature and human rights to ensure and protect 'freedom of expression' in the United States and worldwide. The organisation also champions the liberty to write and recognises the power of the 'word' to transform the 'world'.
The website run by PEN shall include information on publishers, agents, journalists and other potential contacts aiding the prisoner writers.
PEN on Tuesday informed the launch of the Incarcerated Writers Bureau. The Bureau showcases the portfolios and work of seasoned writers working from prison, and provides accessible opportunities tailored for writers under incarceration.
Significantly, the initiative is made with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, focusing on making the literary community inclusive of writers behind bars.
The initiative will also facilitate the prisoners to get in contact with industry professionals and bridge publishers and other outlets with them to promote opportunities.
It also offers advice and background on the pay scale and about the ethics and the challenges involving those who lack access to a computer or typewriter.
Notably, in the past, the best literary works had been scripted inside prisons.
Le Morte d'Arthur, by Sir Thomas Malory; Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan; Hymn to the Pillory, by Daniel Defoe; Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, by John Cleland; Our Lady of the Flowers, by Jean Genet; To Althea, from Prison, by Richard Lovelace were written when the writers were under incarceration.
The famous De Profundis was written by Oscar Wilde when he spent two years in jail after being found guilty of "gross indecency". The work is a letter written by Wilde to his lover, the English poet Lord Alfred Douglas, aka Bosie Douglas.
In the first half of the book, Wilde recalls about relationship and extravagant lifestyle that eventually led to his conviction and imprisonment. In the second half, Wilde finds his spiritual development in prison and identification with Jesus Christ. He characterises Christ as a romantic, individualist artist.
The book, later considered a revolutionary love letter, begins with "Dear Bosie" and ends with "Your Affectionate Friend".