“The award tells us, hey, we can add meaning, it shows us that our word can count too.” That was John J. Lennon, one of the jurors of the Inside Literary Prize—the first major book prize in the United States to be awarded by people currently in prison, supported in part by the Center for Justice Innovation. 300 incarcerated people will choose a winner among recent books by four renowned authors: Tess Gunty, Jamil Jan Kochai, Roger Reeves, and Imani Perry. “I’m glad that the literary establishment is recognizing the people inside,” Perry commented. “They have a great deal of critical insight and wisdom about literature.”