Inside Literary Prize, the First Major US Book Prize Judged Exclusively by Incarcerated People, Awarded to Imani Perry

Last night, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry was awarded the inaugural Inside Literary Prize, the first US-based literary prize judged exclusively by incarcerated people. More than 200 people incarcerated in prisons across the country voted on the literary prize, a collaborative project of Freedom Reads, the National Book Foundation, Center for Justice Innovation and Dallas bookstore owner Lori Feathers.

At a ceremony in New York City emceed by Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, authors, advocates, and the judges themselves (via video) spoke eloquently about the role that literature and reading plays in the lives of incarcerated people.

“Being a judge…just meant a lot for me,” said Chelsea, a judge at Minnesota Correctional Facility - Shakopee. “It meant that my voice mattered, because for the last four and a half years, my voice hasn’t mattered. I got to be Chelsea. I wasn’t just my number.”

“In this honor, I renew my sense of responsibility to the millions of people incarcerated and under state supervision,” said Imani Perry, winner of the inaugural Inside Literary Prize. “Not as a matter of charity, but rather out of the deepest respect for the insight that comes from seeing society from the corners that it keeps hidden. And for the wisdom of those whom it keeps out of view. But most of all out of care for those in the grasp of confinement. I think this prize is most of all a recognition of readers and may this recognition of the intellectual life that exists behind bars extend much further…God bless the organizers who believe in freedom. And, to the people inside, please know when I say ‘we’ and when I refer to ‘my people,’ I mean you too.”

Interviews with the judges from the Shakopee Correctional Facility can be seen in this video and heard in a new episode of Center for Justice Innovation’s “New Thinking” podcast.

The award’s shortlist included: The Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty (Winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction), The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories by Jamil Jan Kochai (Finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction), South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani Perry (Winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction), and Best Barbarian by Roger Reeves (Finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry). This shortlist was determined by a selection committee comprising incarcerated readers, writers, and Departments of Corrections librarians, who selected the four books from the list of Finalists and Winners of the 2022 National Book Awards.

“I want to communicate my gratitude and admiration for everyone who made the Inside Literary Prize possible,” said Tess Gunty. “First and foremost, to the readers across the country who participated in the Inside Literary Prize: thank you for bestowing your singular and transformative attention upon our work. I believe no book is finished until it meets the imagination of another person. By imagining my novel, you brought it to life. I am honored to share this sacred collaboration with you.”

“I think this is such a beautiful and necessary initiative,” Jamil Jan Kochai said in recorded remarks. “And I hope that our literary institutions continue to support and advocate for the incarcerated writers and readers in our wider literary community.”

“This is absolutely necessary,” said Roger Reeves. “This is what literature produces, these are those intersections….Thank you, Dwayne, thank you National Book Foundation, and I thank all the partners for believing in a project like this, and for allowing us as Americans who are out here to see the absolute necessity of this thing.”

“This is their voice getting out. You get to see and hear what I get to see and hear,” Senior Librarian for the Minnesota Department of Corrections Andrea Smith said at the award ceremony. “I want to be clear, though. These reflections are hard-earned. These women showed up, did the work for themselves and for their peers. They didn't just read a set of four books and cast a ballot. They read and they discussed with specificity, and then they had more questions, so they re-read and came together again and debated.”

In December 2023, Freedom Reads, the National Book Foundation, and the Center for Justice Innovation announced the launch of the Inside Literary Prize (see coverage in The New York Times, The Guardian, Publishers Weekly). This new initiative, which is also supported by Dallas bookstore owner Lori Feathers, expands access to our country’s most thought-provoking literature for people who are incarcerated.

Incarcerated people from 12 prisons in six states – Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, and North Dakota – were sent the books to read and consider. Freedom Reads spearheaded an Inside Literary Prize tour, where representatives from the sponsoring organizations visited the 12 prisons and held conversations with readers inside who then each voted for their choice to win the Prize.

In addition to the hand-crafted, natural wood trophy pictured above, the winner was also awarded $4,860. This amount, as explained by Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, represents five years’ of work at 54-cents-per-hour, the wage earned by Betts when he was incarcerated and worked in the prison library.

Last night’s 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: 

Freedom Reads’ mission is to inspire and confront what prison does to the spirit. We bring beautiful, handcrafted bookcases into prisons, transforming cellblocks into Freedom Libraries. The Freedom Library is a physical intervention into the landscape of plastic and steel and loneliness that characterizes prison. In an environment where the freedom to think, to contribute to a community, and even to dream about what is possible is too often curtailed, Freedom Reads reminds those inside that they have not been forgotten. 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 works with communities and justice systems to advance equity, increase safety, and help individuals and communities thrive. The Center's goal is to identify and resolve as early as possible the challenges that bring people into the criminal and civil legal systems. Since its founding in 1996, the Center has grown to a nationwide organization with more than 800 employees staffing dozens of initiatives in New York, New Jersey, and California, advising practitioners and policymakers across the country and around the world, and conducting research and sharing their expertise with those seeking to transform the justice system. For more information, 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.