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Author: Lawson Strickland

A prisoner studies vocabulary cards under a desk lamp in his cell, holding one card while other cards and an open book are spread across the desk.

Competing to be the best s-p-e-l-l-e-r inside Angola prison

September 12, 2025 Updated September 25, 2025
A buzzed-about spelling bee returns to the United States’ biggest maximum security prison.

Waiting.

December 26, 2024 Updated December 27, 2024
This story was awarded the top PEN Prison Writing Award for fiction.

About The Lens

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The Lens fights to reveal and report on issues that impact the community and the region. Staunchly defending the public's right to know and deeply committed to sharing our knowledge with the community at large. We center human impact in all our work.
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