Inside Literary shortlist
The Inside Literary Prize — judged by readers inside U.S. prisons — released its 2026 shortlist, and this year’s finalists are all National Book Award–honored titles being read by hundreds across 12 prisons in six states. The shortlist spotlights literary awards pushed through an inclusivity and social‑justice lens. (bookriot.com)
The 2026 shortlist names Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Knopf), The Book Censor’s Library by Bothayna Al‑Essa (translated by Ranya Abdelrahman and Sawad Hussain; Restless Books), Ædnan by Linnea Axelsson (translated by Saskia Vogel; Knopf), All Fours by Miranda July (Riverhead), and My Friends by Hisham Matar (Random House). (nationalbook.org) Organizers say the five titles were chosen by a selection committee made up of incarcerated readers, writers, and Department of Corrections librarians from the 2024 National Book Awards Finalists in Fiction and Translated Literature. (nationalbook.org) Freedom Reads will begin a six‑state prison tour in late April with scheduled stops in Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, Maine, Maryland, and Massachusetts. (freedomreads.org) Named tour participants include Freedom Reads founder and CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, 2025 Inside Literary Prize winner Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah, and past shortlisted author Jamil Jan Kochai. (nationalbook.org) The prize, launched in December 2023, is entering its third year and organizers say the initiative has engaged nearly 500 incarcerated judges across both women’s and men’s facilities in 12 states since its inception. (freedomreads.org) Previous Inside Literary Prize winners include Imani Perry for South to America and Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah for Chain‑Gang All‑Stars, and the 2026 winner is scheduled to be announced this summer. (nationalbook.org)
