“Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s ‘Chain-Gang All-Stars’ was awarded the second annual Inside Literary Prize, the first-ever U.S.-based literary award to be judged by currently incarcerated people.” Read more: jlusa.org/2025/08/01... #ChainGangAllStars #InsideLiteraryPrize @freedomreads.bsky.social‬

This edition is dedicated to the Inside Literary Prize ! Don’t miss it—read at link: freedomreads.org/news/newslet...

Watch this opening from the Inside Literary Prize ceremony, where @dwaynebetts reflects on the power of books—and the readers behind bars who chose Chain-Gang All-Stars by @king_nk as this year’s winner. Full video at the link: youtu.be/ouzt3USAbjk #insideliteraryprize

And the book is! 🥁 The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. I hope you all had a fun week learning more about our Freedom Library books. The five books we discussed this week are all a part of the 500 book collection. Have a beautiful weekend! #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Final Day! And it has been such a blast sharing these clues with you all. Can you guess where this quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

And the book is! 🥁 The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus! Got it right? You love your French existentialists! 💯 Final quote drops tomorrow. Same time. Same game. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Day 4! And we have another clue! All week long we’re sharing powerful quotes from books in our Freedom Library. Can you guess where the quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

And the book is! 🥁 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou! Got it right? You love Maya Angelou as much as we do! 🎉 New quote drops tomorrow. Same time. Same game. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Day 2! And we have another clue! All week long we’re sharing powerful quotes from books in our Freedom Library. Can you guess where the quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

And the book is! 🥁 A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry! Got it right? Give yourself a high five! 🙏 New quote drops tomorrow. Same time. Same game. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

Day 2! And we have another clue! All week long we’re sharing powerful quotes from books in our Freedom Library. Can you guess where the quote comes from? Share your guesses below! Answer will be revealed by 5pm. #freedomreads #freedomlibrary #books #quotes #fun

🎙️ Podcast Week: Injustice & the Letter from Birmingham Jail At 16, @dwaynebetts was sentenced to 9 years. He cried reading Dr. King’s letter. On @EconTalker, he reflects on that moment—and how words behind bars can spark freedom. 🎧 podcasts.apple.com/hk/podcast/i... #mlk #podcast

🎙️ Podcast Week: Reading Dostoevsky Behind Bars In this @Freakonomics episode, @dwaynebetts joins Steven Levitt to talk Dostoevsky, prison, and the power of literature to transform lives. 📚 Listen: freakonomics.com/podcast/read...

🎙️ Throwback! @dwaynebetts on how one book changed his life—from solitary to Yale Law—and why he now builds prison libraries. 📚 “Dwayne Betts Is Proof That a Book Can Change Your Life” 🔗 open.spotify.com/episode/2TAV...

In this episode of @BNBuzz #PouredOver, @dwaynebetts joins @miwamesser to talk life, poetry, and the journey to founding Freedom Reads. A soulful convo on storytelling, forgiveness & how books set us free. 📚 Watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bso9...

Still reflecting on last week’s historic moment — @king_nk won the 2nd Inside Literary Prize. His speech moved us all. Listen to his Freedom Takes episode — brilliant, necessary, and keeps the convo going. open.spotify.com/episode/5vSD... #FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize

Season 2 of The Freedom Takes continues! @dwaynebetts & Steven Parkhurst talk with Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah about Chain-Gang All-Stars & the power of forgiveness. Nana is a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow & 2023 NBA finalist. 🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/5vSD... #InsideLiteraryPrize #podcast

Congratulating Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for winning the Inside Literary Prize 2025! #freedomreads #insideliteraryprize

Welcome to Season 2 of The Freedom Takes! 🎙️ In this episode, @dwaynebetts and Allie Salazar Gonzalez talk with Paul Harding about This Other Eden—a 2023 Booker Prize finalist. Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/74FL... ✨ #FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize

Season 2 of The Freedom Takes is here! First up: Astrid Roemer joins us to talk On a Woman’s Madness, feminism, & the power of words. Her novel was longlisted for the 2025 Int’l Booker & translated by Lucy Scott. Listen now: open.spotify.com/episode/3Ybe... #FreedomReads

#freedomreads #inthenews www.telemundo.com/noticias/not...

#freedomreads #inthenews www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/...

Season 2 of The Freedom Takes is here! @dwaynebetts & David Perez sit down with Justin Torres, author of Blackouts, winner of the 2023 National Book Award to talk rehumanization, storytelling & survival. Listen now @ open.spotify.com/episode/2w2c... #FreedomReads #InsideLiteraryPrize

On July 4th, we reflect on freedom—who it has included, and who it’s left behind. At Freedom Reads, we build prison libraries because freedom begins with access: to books, to beauty, to dignity. #freedomreads #july4th #freedom

Freedom Reads showed up at #ALA2025! Grateful for powerful convos, book lovers, & connecting with our board member Dr. Carla Hayden — a true champion for books & freedom. 📚💬 #FreedomReads #BooksChangeLives

Freedom Reads' June Newsletter is here! 📬 Founder & CEO @dwaynebetts reflects on fatherhood & the Inside Literary Prize. Plus, meet Library Production Associate Michael Byrd in our new "Meet the Team" column. Read @ freedomreads.org/news/newslet...

Today, we honor Juneteenth knowing emancipation was just the beginning. At Freedom Reads, we build prison libraries because freedom begins with access—to books, to beauty, to dignity. #Juneteenth #FreedomReads #BooksChangeLives

This week, Freedom Reads brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize to Cheshire & York CIs in CT. Incarcerated readers are judging Chain-Gang All-Stars, This Other Eden, On a Woman’s Madness, & Blackouts—proving literature belongs to everyone. #FreedomReads #Connecticut #insideliteraryprize #2025

Tuesday night, @dwaynebetts joined @imaniperry at @92ndstreety to talk Doggerel—a conversation on love, kindness & writing from joy. Watch it at 92ny.org ✨ #doggerel #poetry #joy #kindness #love

📚 CT Public just spotlighted our libraries + the powerful work of carpenters like Jimmy Flynn—building shelves after 30 yrs inside. Each Freedom Library is a step toward dignity, beauty & freedom. www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-06... 💛 #FreedomReads

Last week, Freedom Reads brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize to 3 prisons in Puerto Rico, where incarcerated readers judged 4 powerful books. Their votes help decide the 2025 winner, announced in July. 📚 478 Freedom Libraries. 12 states & territories. #freedomreads #puertorico

ICYMI: Freedom Reads opened 37 Freedom Libraries & brought #InsideLiteraryPrize (ILP) 2025 to 2 NJ prisons this May 📚 “Each book had so many layers of symbolism and messages,” ILP judge Tina at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility wrote to Freedom Reads. Read more in Patch ⬇️ patch.com/new-jersey/n...

Freedom Reads' May Newsletter dropped today! 📧 Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts reflects on Freedom Library openings and his poetry reading inside Edna Mahan Correctional Facility in New Jersey. Plus, get updates on #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 📚 freedomreads.org/news/newslet...

This week, the Freedom Reads team brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 to California Institution for Men and Central California Women's Facility 📚 Learn more ⬇️ freedomreads.org/news/press-r...

A big *thank you* to Ye Olde Bookshoppe in Wenatchee, WA for spreading the word about Freedom Reads ✨ If you are a bookstore owner or librarian interested in supporting Freedom Reads, contact [email protected] and we'll send you a self-standing poster to display in your store! #FreedomReads

This week, the Freedom Reads team opened 37 Freedom Libraries in cellblocks across Edna Mahan Correctional Facility and Northern State Prison in New Jersey!

"...we got to actually judge something other than being judged..." 2024 #InsideLiteraryPrize Judge Alex Capilla at Arizona State Prison Complex – Perryville spoke with @kjzz.org's @samdingman.bsky.social about serving as a judge for last year's inaugural Prize 🎧 www.kjzz.org/the-show/202...

Earlier this month, the Freedom Reads team brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 to Cybulski and Carl Robinson Correctional Institutions in Connecticut 📚 📸 Tyler Russell/@ctpublic.bsky.social @nationalbook.bsky.social @innovatingjustice.bsky.social

📣 Calling all poetry and jazz lovers! Join Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Volodymyr Rafeyenko, Anouar Rahmani & the Zara Zaharieva Quartet at @cityofasylum.bsky.social for Jazz Poetry night tomorrow at 7pm! In-person or virtual tickets available below ⬇️

"It was poetry that allowed me to imagine what a second chance would look like, allowed me to imagine who I might be in the world." Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts gave a poetry reading at the Eddie Warrior Correctional Center for women last month ⬇️ youtu.be/S8XYIQQIuTA?...

A big *thank you* to @mtbookco.bsky.social in Helena, MT for spreading the word about Freedom Reads ✨ If you are a bookstore owner or librarian interested in supporting Freedom Reads, contact [email protected] and we'll send you a self-standing poster to display in your store! #booksky

ICYMI: National Book Award-winning author @imaniperry.bsky.social joins Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts in conversation at the @92ndstreety.bsky.social this June 💫 Get in-person or streaming tickets here ➡️ www.92ny.org/event/regina...

#ClipOfTheDay: “I was doing nine years in prison, and poems became my way to see the world.” In this Common Read event hosted by the Sims Memorial Library at Southeastern Louisiana University, Reginald Dwayne Betts answers questions and presents a lecture and reading. at.pw.org/CommonReadBetts

“That book, I think I can relate to in a certain way, because of what she was going through as what my mother went through..." #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 judge Johnnie at Cybulski Correctional shares his favorite book from the shortlist with @ctpublic.bsky.social 🎧 www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-05...

"And I know all I have is poems but believe these words too might be a kind of bread..." Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts reflects on a recent poetry reading at Eddie Warrior Correctional Center for women in Oklahoma ➡️ freedomreads.org/news/blog/fo...

ICYMI: Freedom Reads opened 22 Freedom Libraries and brought the #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 to Illinois last week 📚 This week, the Freedom Reads team is Inside in Connecticut bringing the Prize to judges at two more prisons. Learn more ➡️ freedomreads.org/news/press-r...

Freedom Reads' April Newsletter dropped today! Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts reflects on #NationalPoetryMonth. Plus, learn about this month's Freedom Library openings & the kick-off to #InsideLiteraryPrize 2025 in Illinois ⬇️ freedomreads.org/news/newslet...

Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts reads Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Recuerdo" for the @nytimes.com Poetry Challenge 💫 How are you celebrating #NationalPoetryMonth? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

🗓️ Mark your calendars: Freedom Reads Founder & CEO Reginald Dwayne Betts and acclaimed writer and winner of the inaugural #InsideLiteraryPrize @imaniperry.bsky.social in conversation at the @92ndstreety.bsky.social on June 10! Join in-person or virtually ➡️ www.92ny.org/event/regina...

This week, Freedom Reads brought Freedom Libraries and the #InsideLiteraryPrize to Illinois! 📚 We opened 22 Freedom Libraries across cellblocks in Decatur and Illinois River Correctional Centers 💫