Today, the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism is grateful to open submissions for the sixth annual Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize. The prize is awarded for essays authored by currently incarcerated and formerly incarcerated writers. This program is an effort to uplift the work of authors who’ve experienced incarceration, and increase opportunities for these writers’ narratives to educate the public about the impact of imprisonment and policing.
We award two prizes, each for an original essay of 1,500 words or less on the topic of prisons, policing or a related subject. Essays can be written in the first person and can be personal narratives (although they do not have to be). The prize for each winning essay is $3,000.
We define “incarceration” broadly–people who have experienced prison, jail, ICE detention, electronic monitoring, or any other form of state-sanctioned confinement are welcome to submit essays.
Essays can be submitted in two ways:
- They can be emailed to essayprize@truthout.org. (Feel free to submit your essay either as an attachment or within the body of the email.)
- They can be mailed to:
Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize
c/o Truthout
PO Box 276414
Sacramento, CA, 95827
The deadline for submissions is May 29, 2026. Prizes will be announced by September 30, 2026.
Essays must be unpublished and unique to this contest; they should not be simultaneously submitted to other publications. Each writer may submit one essay. Writers based anywhere in the world are eligible.
This essay prize is given in honor of Keeley Schenwar, who was a devoted mother, daughter, sister, friend, writer and advocate for incarcerated mothers. During her own incarceration, Keeley wrote often, including this essay about childbirth, breastfeeding and incarceration. Keeley was the sister of Maya Schenwar, director of the Truthout Center for Grassroots Journalism. Keeley was one of the inspirations for Truthout’s early and sustained dedication to covering the injustices and violence of incarceration and policing.
We encourage all to read the prizewinning essays of past years:
Read the essays of the 2021 winners here.
Read the essays of the 2022 winners here.
Read the essays of the 2023 winners here.
Read the essays of the 2024 winners here.
Read the essays of the 2025 winners here.
We recognize that incarceration–in all its forms–is a primary tool used to enforce authoritarianism. We view this year’s Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize as one small piece of our resistance to rising fascism.
If you’d like to support the Keeley Schenwar Memorial Essay Prize you can make a donation here, or contact us about making a gift.