Bay Area Correspondence Opportunities — Survive Bay Area Punishment

In-Custody Correspondence Courses and Programs

Journal of Prisoners on Prisons: a prisoner written, academically oriented and peer reviewed, non-profit journal, based on the tradition of the penal press. It brings the knowledge produced by prison writers together with academic arguments to enlighten public discourse about the current state of carceral institutions.
PEN America's Annual Prison Writing Contest: anyone incarcerated in a federal, state, or county prison in the year before the September 1 deadline is eligible to enter. Prizes of $250, $150, and $100 are awarded for first, second, and third place, respectively, in each of the following categories: poetry, fiction, drama, nonfiction, and memoir. Winning submissions are then published in PEN America’s annual Prison Writing Awards Anthology, a collection of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and drama written by incarcerated individuals.
Prison Journalism Project: trains incarcerated writers to be journalists and publish their stories.

Adams State University Prison Education Program: facilitates college courses, paralegal certification, associate's degrees, bachelor's degrees, and master’s in business administration (MBA).
- Tuition: $264 per credit hour, typically $794 per course.
American School: an accredited high school correspondence program available to people in prison.
- Cost is approx. $1000 per year, can get credit for past high school education by submitting transcripts.
College Guild Correspondence Courses: provides free correspondence courses to people in a state or federal prison.
Rising Scholars Network: a network of community colleges in California supporting incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students (search for opportunities by facility).

Flying Over Walls: a letterwriting & penpal program resisting the violent isolation of the prison system by connecting our queer and trans community across prison walls.