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As repressive forces escalate, attempting to quash our ability to speak freely, it’s as crucial as ever to listen to the voices of incarcerated people who experience extreme repression every day, yet continue to speak out. As Renaldo Hudson recently wrote in Stateville Speaks: “We cannot let the experiences of our incarcerated brothers, sisters, and siblings be dismissed. They are the frontline witnesses to a system that has normalized control over care. Their stories matter.”
On this note, the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism is grateful to announce the winners of the fifth annual Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize. The Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize, awarded to two formerly or currently incarcerated people for essays related to imprisonment or policing, is given in memory of Keeley Schenwar (1990-2020), who was a devoted mother, daughter, sister, friend, writer, and advocate for incarcerated mothers. The selected essays share the spirit in which Keeley Schenwar moved through the world (and wrote her own work): a spirit of empathy, open-heartedness, and resistance. Each winner receives $3,000 and publication in Truthout.
This year, we received hundreds of submissions, and each one held power. It is a true honor to engage with and learn from these essays every year, and so difficult to select just two. In addition to members of the Truthout team, we are thankful for our additional guest judge Colette Payne, a winner of the 2022 prize.
The 2025 winners are E.M., author of “As a Trans Person in Federal Prison, I’m Being Punished for Existing,” and Starling Thomas, author of, “Mama, They Got Me Too: My Family Has Survived Incarceration Over Generations.”
E.M.’s essay, “As a Trans Person in Federal Prison, I’m Being Punished for Existing,” is a stark, vital response to the reverberating impacts of Trump’s day-one executive order targeting trans people. In late January, E.M., a trans woman and Bosnian genocide survivor, was torn from her cell and told she would be suddenly transferred to a men’s prison. She writes, “Within seconds, my temporary prison term became a potential death sentence, handed over by the president.” E.M. is not alone — many incarcerated trans people are under dire threat, whether or not they’re directly affected by Trump’s orders. E.M.’s fight should not be hers alone, either: This essay should remind all of us to join her in the “long, uphill struggle for change” that this moment demands.
Starling Thomas’s essay, “Mama, They Got Me Too: My Family Has Survived Incarceration Over Generations,” chronicles the intergenerational violence inflicted on the author’s family by the carceral system, from her mother’s pregnancy in prison to her own incarceration, “a curse disguised as justice.” Starling shares a truth that often gets erased in depictions of multigenerational trauma: “It’s not only the harm that’s intergenerational; the struggle to break the cycle also stretches across generations. And it isn’t just a personal fight; it’s a collective one… for the future we refuse to stop fighting for. Where justice isn’t just a word they use to make oppression sound noble.” It’s not just trauma that’s passed down, passed on — it’s also resistance. What a powerful message for our time, and all times.
Congratulations to this year’s authors! Please share their stories far and wide. And read past years’ winning essays here.
We want to extend deep gratitude to everyone who submitted an essay, and to everyone writing in the face of repression. Thank you for your words and your courage.
As ever, let’s all dream of — and work toward — a day when there are no incarcerated writers, when no one is caged. And let’s dream of — and work toward — a future beyond authoritarian repression, where no one is surveilled, targeted, or punished for speaking the truth.
If you are moved to support this program, you can donate toward the Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize here. Please send a note to support@truthout.org afterward letting us know the contribution is for the prize. If you have questions, please reach out to center@truthout.org.
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