In a new initiative of Freedom Reads, the Center for Justice Innovation, and the National Book Foundation, a panel of people incarcerated in prisons across 6 U.S. states will collectively choose a book to receive a new award, the Inside Literary Prize, as the New York Times reports. Inspired by a similar initiative that took place in France, the award gives incarcerated people an opportunity to shape the national discourse around literature and culture. As Freedom Reads founder Reginald Dwayne Betts puts it: “Being able to say that this is the dopest book this year, chosen by these men and women still in prison, is ultimately about saying that their lives matter.”