Yang Tongyan, an essayist, poet, and novelist who was imprisoned in 2005 for "subverting state authority" in China and posting his work online will receive $10,000 from the PEN Foundation for the very work that landed him in jail three years ago.

Tongyan, who also writes under the pen name Yang Tianshui, is currently serving a 12-year sentence for his offense, and previously served 10 years for his opposition to the treatment of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, in 1989.

The $10,000 PEN award is given annually to incarcerated or persecuted writers who face serious health problems. Tongyan, who has diabetes and arthritis, is one of 38 writers currently serving time in Chinese prisons. Five of them are PEN award recipients.