Blog

The latest from Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, the Freedom Reads team, and our larger community, both on the Inside and the outside.

Tagged with Inside Literary Prize

The Many Ways To Reads a Book

By Lori Gruen, Senior Advisor at Freedom Reads
Close up of books on a Freedom Library shelf at Gloria McDonald Women's Facility in Rhode Island.  

Why do some people love certain books that other people really can’t stand?  That may seem a weird question -- some people like Brussel sprouts and other people hate them, some people like to watch the news or the weather channel or romcoms and other people avoid all that as much as they can, some people love jazz music and others find it boring. To each their own.But when it comes to literature and other works of art, the way that people respond can have deeper meaning.

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My Experience As a Judge for the First Inside Literary Prize

By Lyndie Felsher
Lyndie Felsher speaking on stage at the 2025 Inside Literary Prize Award Ceremony.(Photo: © Beowulf Sheehan.)

I was so honored, grateful, and deeply moved to be invited to speak at the Inside Literary Prize event on July 10, 2025. Not so long ago, within the walls of prison, loneliness was my constant companion. Isolation had become my reality, and hope felt like a distant memory. Each day felt heavier than the last.

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Meet The Team: Development Manager Allie Salazar Gonzalez

By Mobolaji Otuyelu, Creative Associate at Freedom Reads
Freedom Reads Development Manager, Allie Salazar Gonzalez, one stage at the 2025 Inside Literary Prize Award Ceremony. (Photo: © Beowulf Sheehan.)

At Freedom Reads, Allie serves as our Development Manager—but she’ll be the first to tell you that title only scratches the surface. Her work goes far beyond fundraising. From writing grant proposals to engaging with our Library Patrons, Allie is a key part of bringing our mission to life. She’s traveled to all 15 stops of the Inside Literary Prize tour this year, helping collect stories, discuss books, and take photos.

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Inside Literary Prize Judges: Impossible to Ignore

By Steven Parkhurst, Communications Manager at Freedom Reads

The 2025 Inside Literary Prize orientation sessions kicked off with an esteemed cohort of Inside Judges! Across 13 prisons in five states and Puerto Rico, over 300 incarcerated individuals stepped into the role of judges and are taking part in an initiative that elevates the voice and agency of those locked up. With these four books in hand, Chain-Gang All-Stars, On a Woman's Madness, This Other Eden, and Blackouts, these sessions, both virtual and in-person, were not just about preparing judges for the task ahead, selecting a book they felt the world needed to read, but about creating a space where their voices, perspectives, and experiences could be amplified and recognized. The men and women Inside are central to the conversation about literature in America.

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Behind the Scenes of the Inside Literary Prize: A Journey of Books, Freedom, and Connection

By David Perez DeHoyos, Library Coordinator at Freedom Reads
Freedom Reads team members (from left to right) Jimmy Flynn, David Perez DeHoyos, and Michael Byrd posing with boxes of books.
Freedom Reads team members (from left to right) Jimmy Flynn, David Perez DeHoyos, and Michael Byrd with the packed shortlisted books for Inside Literary Prize 2025.

This year, something extraordinary happened. A group of ten individuals from all across the country came together to decide the shortlisted titles for the Inside Literary Prize 2025. But here’s the thing—this wasn’t just any group of book lovers. Our Selection Committee was a unique blend of people from the Inside: prison librarians, formerly incarcerated folks, and the incredible members of the Freedom Reads team (yes, yours truly included). Together, we embarked on a two-month journey that was far more than just reading—it was about connection, reflection, and reclaiming the power of stories.

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Founder's Take: What Matters Most

By Reginald Dwayne Betts, Freedom Reads Founder & CEO

I remember my first holiday meal in prison. I’d just turned eighteen-years-old a few weeks before, my second of eight birthdays Inside. I was at Southampton Correctional Center in Capron, Virginia. There are still a lot of folks I remember who would have been in the chow hall that day, some I still talk to. Fats, Star, Divine, Smoke. That dinner, they served Cornish hens. I didn’t know what that was then but knew it was delicious. Later found out these hens are juvenile chickens particularly tender for eating.

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Founder's Take: What Started as a Dream

By Reginald Dwayne Betts, Freedom Reads Founder & CEO

It was all a dream. Or not a dream, but a fantasy, this belief that people would get behind the idea of the Freedom Library. The Freedom Library, which, at its root, is simply the notion that beauty and literature matter. That nature matters. That incarceration should not deprive people of these things. To put this all in another way, I’ll say that I was thinking like they thought with the Field of Dreams, that is: If you build it, they will come.

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Inside Literary Prize Tour Leg Two: North Dakota State Penitentiary, MCF-Faribault, and MCF-Shakopee

By Steven Parkhurst, Communications Manager at Freedom Reads
Freedom Reads Communications Manager Steven Parkhurst takes a selfie with the sign outside of Minnesota Correctional Facility - Shakopee.
Freedom Reads Communications Manager Steven Parkhurst outside of Minnesota Correctional Facility - Shakopee.

Taven, young by any measure whether Inside or out, sat preoccupied in the corner of the library turned poetry stage turned polling station at North Dakota State Penitentiary (NDSP). He was scheduled for a parole hearing on the day Freedom Reads arrived to bring acclaimed poet Roger Bonair-Agard and a handful of Inside Literary Prize ballots to vote on books. I gave him a knowing handshake. I, too, needed a distraction on the day I went up before the parole board that granted me freedom after serving seven days short of 30 years on the Inside. He reminded me of the 17-year-old version of myself who cared less about books and more about surviving the rest of my life in a place that looked like anything but a library. He showed up for our event though, the way Freedom Reads shows up for people incarcerated, and the way I now have shown up to 25 prisons since being released just 17 months ago. I gave him a ton of credit.

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Inside Literary Prize: Updates from Leg One of the Tour

By Gabby Colangelo, Program Coordinator for Freedom Reads
Judges inside at La Vista Correctional Center in Colorado vote on the four shortlisted books for the inaugural Inside Literary Prize.
Judges inside at La Vista Correctional Center in Colorado vote on the four shortlisted books for the inaugural Inside Literary Prize.

In a few days, the Freedom Reads team will set off for North Dakota and Minnesota, for the second leg of the Inside Literary Prize tour. We’ll meet dozens of Inside Literary Prize judges, lead live discussions about the books, and host literary readings with Roger Bonair-Agard, Douglas Kearney, and Randall Horton.

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Inside Literary Prize Books Sent to Judges

By Freedom Reads
Freedom Reads team members (from left to right) David, Gabby, Mike, and Steven with the four books shortlisted for the Inside Literary Prize.
Freedom Reads team members (from left to right) David, Gabby, Mike, and Steven with the four books shortlisted for the Inside Literary Prize.(Photo: Keenan Hochschild)

In January, the Freedom Reads team packed and shipped out the four shortlisted books for the Inside Literary Prize to each of our 300 judges on the inside in 12 prisons. Five additional sets of the shortlisted books were also sent to each of the prisons for those who are not participating as judges. In addition, we are also providing copies of the books to correctional staff, to include staff in the communities being built around reading.

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