Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop

It’s been fifteen years since MPWW’s founder taught our first class at Lino Lakes prison. The talent and dedication of those ten students showed her that a huge demand for arts programming existed in the Minnesota state prison system, a yawning gap waiting to be filled.

Flash forward to 2026, when MPWW is teaching over 30 full-length classes across nine adult prisons, coordinating a thriving one-on-one mentor program, sponsoring five Writers’ Collectives of experienced students, publishing an annual journal of student work, and drawing over 300 people to our annual readings.

Many of the writers in those early classes — whose intelligence, determination, and labor have shaped what MPWW has become — have published books, pursued advanced degrees, and provided mentorship to newer writers. Some have come home and founded organizations of their own, which are providing invaluable services in our community. Their work on and off the page has demonstrably shifted the entire literary landscape in our state and beyond.

Even as we celebrate our community and its accomplishments, this fifteen-year anniversary is bittersweet. Some of the writers in the first MPWW classes remain inside. They’ve kept working through lockdowns, transfers, and losses; a horrific pandemic; fifteen years of holidays missed. Their persistence is what inspires us. We owe them the promise to keep coming back. 

Are you able to make a donation to help us reach our goal?

It’s the support of people like you that allows us to keep that promise. We need to raise $50,000 by Give to the Max Day on Nov. 19th to sustain and expand our vital work in Minnesota prisons next year. Can you help us reach that goal with a donation of any amount?

All donors giving $100 or more, or a recurring monthly donation of any amount, will receive a copy of either Disfigured Hours or Twenty-One Birthdays, generously donated by Lost Kite Editions. Donors giving $200 or more, or $20/month, will receive copies of both books.

You’re welcome to donate by check, if you prefer. Please make your check payable to Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop and mail it to us at P.O. Box 7262, Minneapolis, MN 55407. MPWW is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and all donations are fully tax-deductible. Our federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) is 47-1890824.

Thank you!!

Over 2 million people are incarcerated in the U.S. with little access to quality arts or educational programming. Your gifts allow us to bridge that gap.

MPWW is a lot of things: an arts organization, a group of educators, a bridge between writers inside and outside of prison. More than anything, it's a community. We're so grateful you're a part of it. Thank you.

Photos of MPWW students by Emily Baxter of We Are All Criminals. For more, check out SEEN, MPWW's partnership with We Are All Criminals, here: https://www.weareallcriminals.org/seen/.