About Elizabeth Hawes

Portrait by Sarah Montoya

Elizabeth Hawes is an award-winner in poetry, memoir, and playwriting. Her play “Supernova” can be found on the Open-Door Playhouse podcast. Elizabeth is an actor, gardener, playwright, poet, and prisoner in Minnesota. She has received three national prison writing awards and one Fielding A. Dawson Award from PEN America. She enjoys taking college classes and watching other people cook. Elizabeth Hawes is a 2016, 2017, 2018 (double) and 2022 PEN America Prison Writing Contest Winner for memoir, poetry and drama. 

Visual Description: A framed portrait of Daniel Pirkel on the left wearing a blue and yellow shirt with a solid brown background, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Prikel’s censored text. 

A framed black and white pencil on paper portrait of Elizabeth Hawes with a scale in the background, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Haws’s censored text. 

A framed colored pencil on paper portrait of Derek Trumbo with a yellow background, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Trumbo’s censored text. 

Near cell wall:
On the right is a framed photograph of Kwaneta Harris, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Harris’s censored text. 

On the left is a framed photograph of Zhi Kai in their graduation gown and cap, accompanied by their framed statement. Framed underneath is Kai’s censored text.