Incarcerated readers in Minnesota help choose national literary prize
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
People serving time in Minnesota prisons are helping choose this year’s Inside Literary Prize, a national book award determined by a jury of entirely incarcerated readers.
The prize was first awarded in 2024 and was co-created by Freedom Reads, which aims to get more books in prisons.
Three hundred incarcerated people at 12 prisons around the country, including correctional facilities in Rush City and Shakopee, will decide the 2026 winner.
“There were times where I walked in the room and I'm like, ‘I'm not with this book, I don't get it,’” said Makayla Richardson, 22.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
“But then, to sit in a room with other people and get their perspectives … it's just very helpful and educational.”
The award is a collaboration between Freedom Reads, the Center for Justice Innovation and the National Book Foundation. The idea is to include incarcerated readers in national literary discussions and foster connections and personal growth behind prison walls.
Richardson is part of a group of 26 women and transgender people serving time at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee, the state’s only women’s prison, who met over the past few months to discuss five critically acclaimed novels: “Ӕdnan,” “The Book Censor’s Library,” “All Fours,” “Martyr!” and “My Friends.”
Fueled by glazed donuts and holding books filled with multi-colored Post-it notes, the group gathered for a final deliberation and vote Wednesday.
Coty Martinez decided her top pick was “Ӕdnan,” a novel about two Indigenous Sámi families navigating Scandinavian colonialism over a century.
“This book is so intimidating, because it seemed like it was the bigger out of all five. But when I opened it up, I just could not put it down,” Martinez said.
Martinez is Indigenous and her tribe is the Houma Nation in Louisiana.
“I think that, a lot of times, people tend to not want to remember all the things that happen to Indigenous people. But (I) also think it's important to remember, because this is where we come from,” Martinez said. “We can acknowledge that and walk through that pain.”
Winter Smith is from Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota and also chose “Ӕdnan” as her top pick.
“I feel like everyone should be educated in generational trauma,” Smith said.
Smith also liked the book “All Fours,” and it inspired her to have deeper conversations with her daughter.
“All Fours” features a woman in her 40s and explores themes of middle-aged sexuality and identity. When Smith told her 13-year-old daughter about the plot, she learned her daughter didn’t know what menopause was.
“I'm starting to realize that I have to start telling my daughter more about what happens to women growing up throughout life,” Smith said.
Smith added she plans to send all five books to her daughter to read so they can discuss them together.
Also on Wednesday, Freedom Reads installed mini libraries with hand-carved wooden shelves in every housing unit in Shakopee prison and another for prison staff.
The literary prize program is one way Freedom Reads fosters relationships with prisons to accomplish the organization's main goal: putting micro libraries in every housing unit in every prison in the country.
Literacy and literature programs can help incarcerated people rehabilitate and reduce recidivism rates. However, traditional prison libraries can have limited selections and hours.
Each micro library has hundreds of books of different genres, from “The Hobbit” to Emily Dickenson’s poetry.
Craig Gore helped install the bookshelves in Shakopee prison. Gore served time and said reading gave him hope while in prison and transformed his life when he got out because he got a job with Freedom Reads.
“I'm doing work in the community, it's making me a better person, it's put me in a position to take better care of my family,” Gore said.
“So just let that be a hope shot for you in the ideas you have about your future.”
