Break Out: Miami

Books & Books, PEN America Pr*son and Justice Writing, and Exchange for Change present readings from the 2022 Pr*son Writing Awards Anthology specifically highlighting the work of incarcerated writers from Florida and the Miami area. Readers with direct relationships to Exchange for Change and experience of writing while incarcerated will include Ryan Moser, Darren Tinker, and potentially family members of incarcerated writers. A moderated panel around the community and personal relationships between incarcerated individuals will be held after the readings.

Variations on an Undisclosed Location: 2022 PEN America Pr*son Writing Awards Anthology

This 5th annual PEN America Pr*son Writing Awards Anthology represents the indispensable archive of the creativity and intellect of incarcerated writers. It also exists simultaneously as a vehicle of connection with the world and other incarcerated writers across the country. In a day and age of digitization and short attention spans, the physical presence of this book serves to confront the reader with the human writers who have contributed their stories and hearts to the work within. Several poignant themes are masterfully represented in this work, ranging from the criminalization of homelessness to meta analysis of what it takes to win writing contests from behind the walls. Writers weave a tapestry from diverse backgrounds, identities, and locales across poetry, fiction, nonfiction and drama to portray the most vivid portrayal of the unfetishized reality we share. Cover art by Russell Craig.

Works by Frank Kensaku Saragosa, Rahsaan Thomas, Ryan M. Moser, Seth Wittner, Wintersun Lemieux, Thomas Bartlett Whitaker, Kevin Schaeffer, Alex Tretbar, C. Fausto Cabrera, Fernando Rivas, David A. Pickett, Jason Centrone, John Corley, Julian Blanchard, Joseph Grosso, Lyle C. May, Burl Corbett, Leo Cardez, Geneva Phillips, Reginald Stevens, Paul Wach, Daniel Pirkel, Elizabeth Hawes, Tsunami Caryl-Averlyn, John Adams, Stephen Perez, Alex Friedmann, Brandon Amos, Evan Drennan, Sean White, Walter Sam, and Gary Farlow.

Ryan M. Moser is a writer formerly incarcerated in Florida. His work has been published in the Evening Street Review, Storyteller, Santa Fe Literary Review, The Progressive, The Marshall Project, Medium, The Wild Word, The Startup, and more. In 2020, his essay, “Injuries Incompatible with Life” received an Honorable Mention award from PEN America.

Darren Tinker ( DT) is a public speaker and writer who found his passions behind bars. After being both falsely accused and wrongfully incarcerated for over three years Darren has made it his goal to become an activist for Pr*son education and change. By speaking at universities and events such as Florida International University (FIU), University of Miami (UM), and The Miami Book Fair he hopes to help people see the importance and significant impact of programs like Exchange for Change.

Vanessa Garcia is a Cuban-American multidisciplinary writer -- screenwriter, playwright, novelist, and journalist/essayist -- who has written and worked for Sesame Street, Caillou, and other shows. She’s the author of the novel, White Light, which won an International Latino Book Award and was one of NPRs best books of 2015. Her first Picture Book for children, What the Bread Says, launched October 1, 2022. Theatrically, she’s the author of The Amparo Experience, an immersive hit that People en Español called “Miami’s Hottest Ticket.” Other plays include: Sweet Goats & Blueberry Señoritas, which she co-wrote with Richard Blanco. Her journalism, essays and thought pieces have appeared in The LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, National Review, ESPN, The Hill, Catapult, Narrativel.ly, and numerous other publications. She holds a PhD from the University of California Irvine in Creative Nonfiction. Her dissertation focused on Cuba.

Edwidge Danticat is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection, Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist, The Farming of Bones, The Dew Breaker, Brother, I’m Dying, Create Dangerously, Claire of the Sea Light, The Art of Death, and Everything Inside, a Reese’s Book Club selection, and National Book Critics Circle Awards winner. She is also the editor of The Butterfly's Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States, Best American Essays 2011, Haiti Noir, and Haiti Noir 2. She has written seven books for children and young adults, Anacaona, Behind the Mountains, Eight Days, The Last Mapou, Mama's Nightingale, Untwine, My Mommy Medicine, as well as a travel narrative, After the Dance. Her memoir, Brother, I'm Dying, was a 2007 finalist for the National Book Award, and a 2008 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for autobiography. She is a 2009 MacArthur fellow, a 2018 Ford Foundation “Art of Change” fellow, a United States Artists Fellow, a two-time winner of The Story Prize, the winner of the 2018 Neustadt International Prize, the 2019 St. Louis Literary Award, and the 2020 Vilcek Prize for Literature.

P. Scott Cunningham is a poet and essayist originally from Boca Raton, FL. He is the author of Ya Te Veo (University of Arkansas Press, 2018), selected by Billy Collins for the Miller Williams Poetry Series. His writing has appeared in The Nation, The Awl, Harvard Review, American Poetry Review, POETRY, Gulf Coast, A Public Space, The Rumpus, Tupelo Quarterly, Monocle, RHINO, The Guardian, 68to05, American Way, and others. His translations of Alejandra Pizarnik, César Vallejo, and Frank Báez have appeared in Omniglots, H.O.W. Journal, Waxwing, and The Miami Rail. A graduate of Wesleyan University, he is the founder and director of O, Miami, a non-profit organization that celebrates Miami, FL through the lens of poetry. Named one of "20 Under 40 Emerging South Florida Leaders" by The Miami Herald and one of 51 “brilliant urbanites who are helping to build the cities of America's future" by Fast Company, he has been a featured speaker at The Aspen Institute, Breakout, Creative Many, TedX, Creative Mornings Miami, Miami Book Fair, and the Decatur Book Festival. He lives in Miami with his wife, Christina; his daughters, Ada and Frankie; and his son, Eli.

Host or Publisher Books & Books