IDOC hosts Freedom Reads for Inside Literary Prize event at Logan and Shawnee Correctional Center
Last week the Illinois Department of Corrections welcomed the national non-profit Freedom Reads to Logan and Shawnee Correctional Centers to facilitate book discussions, voting and author events for the third annual Inside Literary Prize.
Illinois Department of Corrections Hosts Freedom Reads for Inside Literary Prize Events at Logan and Shawnee Correctional Centers
Launched in 2023 by Freedom Reads, the National Book Foundation, and the Center for Justice Innovation with support from Lori Feathers, the Inside Literary Prize is the first-ever US-based literary prize awarded exclusively by currently incarcerated people. This week, incarcerated readers at both Logan and Shawnee Correctional Centers are serving as judges for the 2026 Prize.
IDOC Expands Freedom Reads Partnership With New Libraries, Hosts Inside Literary Prize Events at Correctional Centers
As part of the visit, seven new Freedom Libraries were unveiled at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln, a women’s facility, bringing the total number of such libraries across four IDOC facilities to 35 since 2022. Existing locations include Decatur Correctional Center, Illinois River Correctional Center and Lincoln Correctional Center.
The events coincided with the third annual Inside Literary Prize, a national award judged exclusively by incarcerated readers. Participants at both Logan and Shawnee correctional centers took part in discussions, author engagements and voting on this year’s shortlisted books.
The Freedom Reader
Conan talks to Reginald Dwayne Betts from New Haven Connecticut about a past mistake that led him to a life of enrichment, education, and eventually the founding of FreedomReads.org, a non-profit that transforms the experience of incarceration by opening libraries in cellblocks.
Haymarket Books and Mellon Foundation Announce Third Cohort of ‘Writing Freedom’ Fellows
Twenty Writers Impacted by the Carceral System Recognized for Meaningful Contributions to Contemporary Literature
Haymarket Books and the Mellon Foundation today announced the third cohort of the Writing Freedom Fellowship, recognizing twenty emerging, mid-career, and established poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers whose lives and work have been impacted by the carceral system.
You Gotta Win Joy with Reginald Dwayne Betts
Dwayne explains how he became intentional about singing a different song after realizing he’d become a long suffering Black man. Plus, why he believes identity is always in flux and why he said he’s never had a problem reading his work in prisons until he started writing about love.
Inside Literary Prize, First Major Book Award Determined by Incarcerated Judges, Announces 2026 Shortlist
Launched in 2023, the Inside Literary Prize is the United States’ first major literary award judged by people in prison. The prize is a collaboration between Freedom Reads, the National Book Foundation, the Center for Justice Innovation and Lori Feathers, podcaster and co-owner of Interabang Books.
25 Things the Missouri Department of Corrections Did in 2025
In the fall, poet Reginald Dwayne Betts visited Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic & Correctional Center (WERDCC) for a poetry reading and book signing. The formerly incarcerated founder of the prison literacy organization Freedom Reads and his team also installed two mini libraries at intake facilities, WERDCC and Fulton Reception & Diagnostic Center (FRDC).
From Solitary to Yale: How Books Helped One Man Reimagine What Life Could Be
Black History Month is here, and there’s no better time to learn about Reginald Dwayne Betts. He’s a Black lawyer and a poet with several acclaimed collections to his name, as well as a memoir. His many honors include being a 2010 Soros Justice Fellow, a 2011 Radcliffe Fellow, a 2012 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow, and a 2021 recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation grant. It should come as no surprise that books and reading have played key roles in his life and career. In fact, as a teen, he was in gifted programs and was an honor student in his high school.
Incarcerated at 16, This Poet Now Changes Lives Through a Prison Book Program: “Joy Is Our North Star”
Betts was 16 years old when he and a friend used a pistol to carjack a man in Fairfax, Virginia; he confessed shortly after his arrest and was sentenced to nine years in prison. Behind bars, reading became a lifeline — and not just for him.
Just Home
On Monday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced plans to reactivate the “Just Home” supportive housing project on the campus of Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.
The project would transform the vacant hospital into affordable housing for homeless New Yorkers, formerly incarcerated people and those leaving Rikers Island with complex medical conditions.
Reginald Dwayne Betts, poet, lawyer and prison reform advocate, joined “The Rush Hour” on Thursday to talk about the mayor’s new housing plan and other stories.
Liberation through Reading & Writng: The Language of Justice with Reginald Dwayne Betts
In this episode of The PlayFull Podcast, Kristine Michie sits down with poet, lawyer, and advocate Reginald Dwayne Betts to explore how joy, words, and access to stories fuel liberation and resilience in social justice work. Through conversations about his books, MacArthur Fellowship, and Freedom Reads (the nonprofit he started that brings brand new “Freedom Edition” books and custom bookcases into prisons), Betts invites listeners to rethink how language, joy, and serious work intertwine. From personal growth through grief to designing spaces that bring books and beauty into prisons, this episode underscores how imagination and care can reshape systems and sustain movement building.