The Inside Literary Prize is the first major US book award to be judged exclusively by people who are currently serving prison sentences.
Inside Literary Prize was “a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. I gained perspective and insight into the person I want to be.
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CRYSTAL “ALEX” CAPILLA, Member of the Inside Literary Prize 2025 Selection Committee and 2024 Judge
A collaboration between Freedom Reads, the Center for Justice Innovation, the National Book Foundation, and Interabang Books co-owner Lori Feathers, the Inside Literary Prize gives currently incarcerated people across six states the opportunity to leave their mark on the cultural conversation by selecting a winner among four recent books. After visits to each prison to lead discussions with incarcerated people, facilitate the voting process, and host readings with award-winning authors, the jurors—women and men incarcerated in 12 different facilities—select their winner.
Serving as an incarcerated judge for the inaugural Inside Literary Prize was a highlight of 23 years behind the wall. It gave me an opportunity to view books as much more than a reader; it taught me to peel back the layers of each work and to appreciate the story, whether I liked it or not. It was a lesson in critical thinking that helped me analyze each facet of the tale. I wasn't just reading about a foreign walk of life. I was living it.”
PHILLIP SMITH, Member of the Inside Literary Prize 2025 Selection Committee and 2024 Judge
2025 Shortlist
Shortlist for 2025 Inside Literary Prize
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars
Pantheon Books / Penguin Random House
Paul Harding, This Other Eden
W. Norton & Company
Astrid Roemer, On a Woman’s Madness
Translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott
Two Lines Press
Justin Torres, Blackouts
Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers
In its second year, the Prize goes from an inaugural event to a tradition, one inspired by the dignity, intelligence, and insights of people who are incarcerated, serving as a reminder of our shared humanity and the power of literature to connect.”
COURTNEY BRYAN, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Justice Innovation
2024 Prize
On August 1, 2024, the inaugural Inside Literary Prize was awarded to South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry at a moving event held at the New York Public Library.
The books nominated for the Prize—all National Book Award-honored books—were selected by a committee of incarcerated people, writers, and librarians with the Department of Corrections.
Through the reading and judging of leading American literary works, the Inside Literary Prize competition will provide a national platform for incarcerated individuals to meaningfully participate in our shared national cultural conversation. Freedom begins with a book.”
REGINALD DWAYNE BETTS, Founder and CEO: Freedom Reads
