Freedom Reads Brings Inside Literary Prize to Maine Correctional Center

Freedom Reads, the national nonprofit dedicated to bringing literature into America's prisons, traveled to Maine this week to host Inside Literary Prize events at Maine Correctional Center (MCC) in Windham, Maine. The visits brought author readings, book discussions, and voting to incarcerated men and women at the facility, marking another stop on the organization's six-state prison tour.

Now in its third year, the Inside Literary Prize is built around the perspectives of incarcerated readers — participants read five shortlist titles in community with their cohort of judges ahead of each visit. When Freedom Reads arrives, the team facilitates a three-hour discussion of all the books before participants cast their votes. Freedom Reads hosted separate events for the men's and women's populations at MCC, with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Harding joining both programs. Harding, whose work appeared on a previous Inside Literary Prize shortlist, joined this year's tour to Maine as an honored guest — leading a reading, speaking with judges, and signing books at the close of each event.

The Maine visits reflect the organization's belief that literature is not a privilege but a right, one that belongs to everyone. The Inside Literary Prize puts incarcerated readers at the center of that belief — as judges, participants, and decision-makers in a national literary conversation.

The winner of the 2026 Inside Literary Prize will be announced in August.