About Arthur Longworth 

Portrait by Mark Stanley Bey “Stan-Bey”

Arthur Longworth is a contributing writer with The Marshall Project, a 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 6-time PEN America Prison Writing Award winner and a 2019-2020 PEN America Writing For Justice Fellow. He has written for Medium, VICE News and Yes! Magazine. His work has been presented onstage by renowned literary figures Francine Prose, Junot Diaz and rapper/poet Talib Kweli. And he is the author of Zek: An American Prison Story (Gabalfa Press, 2016). However, Arthur didn’t always write. He grew up in the foster care system. That is to say, Washington State raised him in its archipelago of infamous boys’ homes, including one the Seattle Time’s dubbed a “house of horrors.” The State turned him out onto the streets at 16 years old without an education, job training, or money. He has a Life Without Parole sentence and has been incarcerated for 35 years.