Poet, Felon, New Havener, Wins Genius Award
Reginald Dwayne Betts, New Haven poet and advocate for the incarcerated, was chosen as a MacArthur Fellow, it was announced today. The ‘genius’ award comes with a $625,000 stipend paid out over five years.
Betts was sentenced to nine years in prison for a car-jacking he committed at sixteen. While serving his sentence, he read works by black poets and later authored a memoir and three collections of poetry himself. He also graduated from Yale Law School and started a nonprofit to build prison libraries and make books available to the incarcerated.
Coincidentally, the award comes as Connecticut lawmakers discuss car-jackings in Connecticut, which have risen here and nationally.
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