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“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. 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.’”
I want to thank all those Inside, those who judged and those who did not.
Adjei-Brenyah’s first novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars is set in a dystopian America where imprisoned people have the choice to leave prison by joining a gladiatorial system called the “CAPE” or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program where they take part in televised duels to the death as part of alliances called Chain Gangs. If they manage to survive three years of battles, then they are freed. The book has a large cast and is written from the perspective of multiple people participating in the program, as well as activists fighting against it, fans, and the people running it.
The book is a fictional novel but features many footnotes citing current laws and factual statistics about the incarceration system in the United States.
Imani Perry was the inaugural recipient of the Inside Literary Prize. She was recognized last year for her nation-crossing meditation, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation.
This year, four novels received nominations:
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