UPSTATE one of 5 books included in Literature for Justice: a new program of The National Book Foundation and Art for Justice.

UPSTATE is included in the National Book Foundation's inaugural "Literature for Justice" annual lineup of five important books that deepen our understanding of mass incarceration, to be celebrated at the program's launch on October 24 at the Los Angeles Public Library. 

The launch will be followed by programs throughout the country to engage audiences through literature on discussions about mass incarceration in America. Learn more about the program here at National Book Foundation's Literature for Justice page.

Of UPSTATE, Literature for Justice committee member Sergio de la Pava, author of the novels A Naked Singularity and Personae (University of Chicago Press), so thoughtfully and sensitively remarks: 

"Upstate masterfully takes as its subject a lost world. It’s a toxic world where incarceration is treated as a rite of passage, one created by all of us but too often ignored by artists. Kalisha Buckhanon captures it all perfectly. Antonio and Natasha are indelible and individuated but also tragically emblematic. And this is the novel’s forceful achievement: that the dirty secrets of this country’s mass incarceration program, the great civil rights malfunction of our time, can feel so lyric and personal. The committee is pleased to draw more attention to this powerful work that highlights the role fiction can play in resisting social injustice. The book can only further our understanding of the devastating impact decades of illegitimate policing has had and should be required reading for anyone hoping to contribute to meaningful reform.” 

Do keep up with this program in the future.