July 11, 2025, 12:50pm

At a ceremony on Thursday night, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Chain-Gang All-Stars was awarded the second annual Inside Literary Prize, the first-ever US-based literary award to be judged by currently incarcerated people. Readers from 15 prisons across 6 states and territories selected Adjei-Brenyah’s novel from a shortlist of four.

“There is no question that this is the highest possible honor a book like this could ever receive,” said Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, in a statement. “I take it to mean those who judged believed I was not careless or callous, that I used 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 Inside Prize is organized by Freedom Reads, in collaboration with the National Book Foundation, the Center for Justice Innovation, and Interabang Books co-owner Lori Feathers.