2025 Inside Literary Prize Awarded to Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Second annual Prize, judged by 300 incarcerated judges across 15 prisons, awarded at a ceremony at The New York Public Library.
July 11, 2025 (New York, NY) – Last night, Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was awarded the 2025 Inside Literary Prize, the first major US literary prize judged exclusively by incarcerated readers. 300 people incarcerated in six states and territories across the country voted on the Prize, which was launched last year by Freedom Reads in collaboration with the National Book Foundation, the Center for Justice Innovation, and Interabang Books co-owner Lori Feathers.
This is the second annual Inside Literary Prize, with the inaugural 2024 Prize awarded last summer to South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry. Last night’s ceremony, held at The New York Public Library, was emceed by Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts. The event featured the four shortlisted authors, representatives from partner organizations, and this year’s judges (via video). Special guest Lyndie Felsher, who was a 2024 Inside Literary Prize judge, also gave remarks reflecting on her experience as a judge last year.
“Reading brought me something invaluable—a community. For the first time in too long, I connected with women who shared my passion,” Lyndie said. “We laughed, debated, and bonded over stories that made our hearts beat with purpose again. Together, through literature, we found strength and unity in the most unlikely of places….Tonight, I stand here free, not just from physical confines, but from the isolation that once defined me. Literature gave me life again.”
The judges for the Inside Literary Prize are people currently incarcerated in prisons across the country. Rolando, a 2025 Inside Literary Prize judge at Western Illinois Correctional Center, shared: “I love it because it literally transports you into another world. And not only that, but you get to see the opinions and the ideas of other people, especially the author. And for me, it expands my mind. For me, not only does it transport me, but I get to learn more of the world. I get to learn of other cultures, of other people, and that, for me, is special, because it just opens up, just a new dimension.”
“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 Inside Literary Prize. “I take it to mean those who judged believed I was not careless or callous, that I use language in a way that felt like truth. This retroactive mandate is a gift I can never repay, but one I will forever be grateful for. I want to thank all those Inside, those who judged and those who did not. This award is dedicated to you all.”
The shortlist for the 2025 Inside Literary Prize included: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah; This Other Eden by Paul Harding; On a Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott; and Blackouts by Justin Torres. These titles were selected by a Selection Committee comprising incarcerated readers, writers, and Departments of Corrections librarians, who chose from the list of Finalists for the 2023 National Book Awards for Fiction and Translated Literature.
You can watch this overview to learn more about the Prize and the judging process, and you can listen to podcast interviews with all four shortlisted authors.
Incarcerated people from 15 prisons in six states and territories–California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, and Puerto Rico–were sent the books to read and consider. Freedom Reads spearheaded an Inside Literary Prize tour, where representatives from the sponsoring organizations visited the 15 prisons and held conversations with readers inside who then each voted for their choice to win the Prize.
The Inside Literary Prize was launched In December 2023, by Freedom Reads, the National Book Foundation, the Center for Justice Innovation, and independent bookstore owner Lori Feathers. This initiative expands access to our country's most thought-provoking literature for people who are incarcerated. (See last year's coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian, and Publishers Weekly).
The 2025 Inside Literary Prize ceremony was held in The Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III Trustees Room at The New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Additional photos from the event are available here. Please credit “Beowulf Sheehan.”
About Freedom Reads:
Founded by Reginald Dwayne Betts, who knows firsthand the dispiriting forces of prison, Freedom Reads works to empower people through literature to confront what prison does to the spirit. Inspired by the recognition that freedom begins with a book, Freedom Reads supports the efforts of people in prison to transform their lives through increased access to books and writers. For more information about Freedom Reads and the Freedom Libraries project, please visit freedomreads.org.
About the Center for Justice Innovation:
The Center for Justice Innovation is a community justice organization that centers safety and racial justice. Since our founding in 1996, the Center has partnered with community members, courts, and the people most impacted to create stronger, healthier, more just communities. Our decades of experience in courts and communities, coupled with our field-leading research and practitioner expertise, help us drive justice nationwide in innovative, powerful, and durable ways. For more information on how and where we work, please visit innovatingjustice.org.
About the National Book Foundation:
The mission of the National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards, is to celebrate the best literature published in the United States, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in our culture. The Foundation approaches this work from four programmatic angles: Awards & Honors recognize exceptional authors, advocates, literature, and literary programs; Education & Access initiatives foster a lifelong passion for books in young and adult readers; Public Programs bring acclaimed authors to communities nationwide to engage in conversations about books and showcase the power of literature as a tool for understanding our world; and Service to the Literary Field, provides support to the national literary ecosystem. Information on all of the Foundation’s programs can be found online at nationalbook.org.
About Lori Feathers:
Lori Feathers is a writer and podcaster in Dallas, Texas, and a co-owner/founder of Interabang Books where she is the store’s book buyer. She is creator of The Big Book Project on Substack, and co-hosts the critically acclaimed books podcast, “Across the Pond.” Lori is founding Chair of the Republic of Consciousness Prize, US and Canada, a prize honoring the work of small publishers, and co-founder of the Inside Literary Prize for incarcerated persons. For six years she served on the elected board of the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing can be found at Literary Hub, Words Without Borders, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Southwest Review.
Contact:
Lori Gruen
Senior Advisor, Freedom Reads
media@freedomreads.org
Steven Parkhurst
Communications Manager, Freedom Reads
media@freedomreads.org