Inside Literary Prize Celebrates Literature, Choice, and Community at Massachusetts Treatment Center
The Inside Literary Prize is the nation's first major book prize decided exclusively by people in prison.
Freedom Reads, the national nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to literature in prisons, visited Massachusetts this week as part of a six-state tour for the 2026 Inside Literary Prize. The event also reflects Freedom Reads' broader mission: to expand access to literature and create spaces where books can become catalysts for reflection and human connection inside correctional facilities. Thus, the Inside Literary Prize offers a simple but powerful proposition: a prison may restrict a person’s physical freedom, but it cannot determine the limits of their imagination.
At Massachusetts Treatment Center, residents gathered to discuss this year's shortlist titles, debate their merits, and cast their votes for the 2026 Inside Literary Prize winner — continuing a process that remains unique among major literary prizes for putting the decision entirely in the hands of incarcerated readers.
The Massachusetts stop is one of six states on this year's Inside Literary Prize tour, part of Freedom Reads' broader effort to bring books, author engagement, and literary community into correctional facilities nationwide. The tour builds on the organization's ongoing work installing Freedom Libraries, which contain curated collections of poetry, fiction, history, and memoir, in facilities nationwide.
The 2026 Inside Literary Prize winner will be announced in August.