#InsideLiteraryPrize
LightNews LightNews
innovatingjustice.bsky.social
🎉 Announcing the Inside Literary Prize 2026 Shortlist! 🎉

Congratulations to the incredible authors shortlisted for the third annual #InsideLiteraryPrize, the first-ever US literary prize awarded exclusively by currently incarcerated people.

Learn more about the Prize today. ⤵️
Inside Literary Prize 2026 Shortlist Announced - Center for Justice Innovation
Hundreds of incarcerated judges will select winner of the nation's first major book prize decided exclusively by people in prison.
www.innovatingjustice.org
March 18, 2026 at 4:21 PM
jlusa.org
“Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s ‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ was awarded the second annual Inside Literary Prize, the first-ever U.S.-based literary award to be judged by currently incarcerated people.”

Read more: jlusa.org/2025/08/01...

#ChainGangAllStars #InsideLiteraryPrize @freedomreads.bsky.social‬
August 1, 2025 at 1:05 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Watch this opening from the Inside Literary Prize ceremony, where @dwaynebetts reflects on the power of books—and the readers behind bars who chose Chain-Gang All-Stars by @king_nk as this year’s winner.

Full video at the link: youtu.be/ouzt3USAbjk
#insideliteraryprize
July 29, 2025 at 1:07 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Still reflecting on last week’s historic moment — @king_nk won the 2nd Inside Literary Prize. His speech moved us all.

Listen to his Freedom Takes episode — brilliant, necessary, and keeps the convo going.

open.spotify.com/episode/5vSD...

#FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize
July 14, 2025 at 7:15 PM
innovatingjustice.bsky.social
“There is no question that this is the highest possible honor a book like this could ever receive,” said Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, winner of the 2025 #InsideLiteraryPrize for his book Chain-Gang All-Stars.

www.innovatingjustice.org/updates/2025...
2025 Inside Literary Prize Awarded to Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - Center for Justice Innovation
www.innovatingjustice.org
July 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Season 2 of The Freedom Takes continues!
@dwaynebetts & Steven Parkhurst talk with Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah about Chain-Gang All-Stars & the power of forgiveness. Nana is a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow & 2023 NBA finalist.

🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/5vSD...

#InsideLiteraryPrize #podcast
July 11, 2025 at 11:56 AM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Congratulating Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for winning the Inside Literary Prize 2025!

#freedomreads #insideliteraryprize
July 11, 2025 at 11:50 AM
innovatingjustice.bsky.social
As #InsideLiteraryPrize judge Joey R. Strizich from Cheshire Correctional Institute in Connecticut put it, “Despite facing systemic challenges, the characters found strength in community and solidarity. "Chain-Gang All-Stars" is a MUST READ!”
July 11, 2025 at 1:04 AM
innovatingjustice.bsky.social
300 judges. 12 prisons. 24 live discussions. 1 winner.

Find out the winner of the second annual #InsideLiteraryPrize tonight: www.innovatingjustice.org/inside-liter...
Inside Literary Prize - Center for Justice Innovation
www.innovatingjustice.org
July 10, 2025 at 5:00 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Welcome to Season 2 of The Freedom Takes! 🎙️

In this episode, @dwaynebetts and Allie Salazar Gonzalez talk with Paul Harding about This Other Eden—a 2023 Booker Prize finalist.

Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/74FL...
✨
#FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize
July 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Season 2 of The Freedom Takes is here! @dwaynebetts & David Perez sit down with Justin Torres, author of Blackouts, winner of the 2023 National Book Award to talk rehumanization, storytelling & survival.

Listen now @ open.spotify.com/episode/2w2c...

#FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize
July 7, 2025 at 4:33 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
This week, Freedom Reads brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize to Cheshire & York CIs in CT. Incarcerated readers are judging Chain-Gang All-Stars, This Other Eden, On a Woman’s Madness, & Blackouts—proving literature belongs to everyone.

#FreedomReads #Connecticut #insideliteraryprize #2025
June 16, 2025 at 8:52 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Last week, Freedom Reads brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize to 3 prisons in Puerto Rico, where incarcerated readers judged 4 powerful books. Their votes help decide the 2025 winner, announced in July. 📚

478 Freedom Libraries. 12 states & territories.

#freedomreads #puertorico
Screenshot of a press release titled "Freedom Reads Brings Inside Literary Prize to Puerto Rican Prisons." It announces that the national non-profit Freedom Reads facilitated book discussions, voting, and author events for the Inside Literary Prize at three prisons in Puerto Rico: Instituto de Bellas Artes, Instituto 501, and Complejo de Rehabilitación para las Mujeres. The release is dated June 5, 2025, from Hamden, Connecticut. Screenshot of quote from press release titled "Freedom Reads Brings Inside Literary Prize to Puerto Rican Prisons." It shares the gratitude of Carlos J. Delgado Cornier, Program Manager at the Puerto Rico Department of Correction and Rehabilitation to Freedom Reads. The release is dated June 5, 2025, from Hamden, Connecticut.
June 10, 2025 at 5:24 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
ICYMI: Freedom Reads opened 37 Freedom Libraries & brought #InsideLiteraryPrize (ILP) 2025 to 2 NJ prisons this May 📚

“Each book had so many layers of symbolism and messages,” ILP judge Tina at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility wrote to Freedom Reads.

Read more in Patch ⬇️ patch.com/new-jersey/n...
Dozens Of 'Freedom Libraries' Built At 2 State Prisons In New Jersey
The libraries include poetry, novels and essays, alongside classic works such as Homer's "The Odyssey" and Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man."
patch.com
May 30, 2025 at 7:54 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Freedom Reads' May Newsletter dropped today! 📧

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts reflects on Freedom Library openings and his poetry reading inside Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in New Jersey.

Plus, get updates on #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 📚 freedomreads.org/news/newslet...
May 2025 Newsletter | Freedom Reads
Freedom Reads: Turning a Dream into Reality
freedomreads.org
May 29, 2025 at 4:21 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
This week, the Freedom Reads team brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 to California Institution for Men and Central California Women's Facility 📚

Learn more ⬇️ freedomreads.org/news/press-r...
Freedom Reads Brings Inside Literary Prize to California Prisons | Freedom Reads
National non-profit Freedom Reads facilitates Inside Literary Prize book discussions, voting, and author events at California Institution for Men and Central California Women’s Facility
freedomreads.org
May 22, 2025 at 8:03 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
The Freedom Reads team also brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 to both NJ prisons 📚

As part of the week's events, Freedom Reads Founder Reginald Dwayne Betts gave a poetry reading from "Doggerel" at Edna Mahan, & Caits Meissner, editor of "The Sentences That Create Us," spoke at Northern State.
Group photo with almost twenty men wearing khaki prison uniforms and the freedom reads team in black and gray t-shirts. Women wearing khaki prison uniforms sit in a circle with Freedom Reads team discussing books Dwayne wearing a yellow shirt and black jacket standing at the front of a room giving a poetry reading from his book doggerel Men wearing khaki prison uniforms sit in a circle with the Freedom Reads team and Caits Meissner, laughing while discussing books
May 16, 2025 at 8:43 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
"...we got to actually judge something other than being judged..."

2024 #InsideLiteraryPrize Judge Alex Capilla at Arizona State Prison Complex – Perryville spoke with @kjzz.org's @samdingman.bsky.social about serving as a judge for last year's inaugural Prize 🎧 www.kjzz.org/the-show/202...
A literary prize is awarded by prison inmates. This Arizona woman was on the judging committee
The Freedom Reads literary competition announced the shortlist for their 2025 prize. It’s the second year of the competition, which claims to be the first of its kind to be judged exclusively by incar...
www.kjzz.org
May 15, 2025 at 2:33 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Earlier this month, the Freedom Reads team brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 to Cybulski and Carl Robinson Correctional Institutions in Connecticut 📚

📸 Tyler Russell/@ctpublic.bsky.social

@nationalbook.bsky.social @innovatingjustice.bsky.social
A man wearing a khaki prison uniform sits and listens attentively to a poetry reading. Freedom Reads communications manager Steven, wearing a black t-shirt that says freedom begins with a book, smiles and talks to a man wearing a khaki prison uniform.
May 13, 2025 at 3:31 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
“That book, I think I can relate to in a certain way, because of what she was going through as what my mother went through..."

#InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 judge Johnnie at Cybulski Correctional shares his favorite book from the shortlist with @ctpublic.bsky.social 🎧 www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-05...
Incarcerated people in CT to judge nationwide book competition
The literary competition, now in its second year, is partly a creation of Freedom Reads, an organization which helps supply libraries inside correctional facilities across the country.
www.ctpublic.org
May 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
ICYMI: Freedom Reads opened 22 Freedom Libraries and brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 to Illinois last week 📚

This week, the Freedom Reads team is Inside in Connecticut bringing the Prize to judges at two more prisons.

Learn more ➡️ freedomreads.org/news/press-r...
Inside Literary Prize judges wearing blue prison uniforms sit in a circle of school desks discussing books. Four Inside Literary Prize books stacked on a desk brimming with handwritten post-it notes. More than 20 men in blue prison uniforms and several members of the Freedom Reads team in black t-shirts pose for a group photo Two men in a prison stand on opposite sides of the Freedom Library bookcase looking at books.
May 1, 2025 at 7:27 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
Freedom Reads' April Newsletter dropped today!

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts reflects on #NationalPoetryMonth.

Plus, learn about this month's Freedom Library openings & the kick-off to #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 in Illinois ⬇️ freedomreads.org/news/newslet...
April 2025 Newsletter | Freedom Reads
Freedom Reads: Showing Up
freedomreads.org
April 30, 2025 at 8:50 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
🗓️ Mark your calendars: Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts and acclaimed writer and winner of the inaugural #InsideLiteraryPrize @imaniperry.bsky.social in conversation at the @92ndstreety.bsky.social on June 10!

Join in-person or virtually ➡️ www.92ny.org/event/regina...
www.92ny.org
April 25, 2025 at 5:10 PM
freedomreads.bsky.social
This week, Freedom Reads brought Freedom Libraries and the #InsideLiteraryPrize to Illinois! 📚

We opened 22 Freedom Libraries across cellblocks in Decatur and Illinois River Correctional Centers 💫
8 women wearing white prison uniforms gather around the Freedom Library, looking through the new books.
April 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM