Reginald Dwayne Betts on his collection of poetry, Felon
Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet and lawyer, but before that, he served eight years in prison. His third collection of poetry, Felon, is an examination of incarceration, family and justice.
Originally published on November 22, 2019
Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet, Yale Law School graduate and a lawyer, but before that, he served eight years in prison from the ages of 16 to 24.
His third collection of poetry, Felon, is an examination of incarceration, family and justice. He joined q's Tom Power from the Yale Broadcast Centre in New Haven, Conn., to tell us more about his work.
"Being a poet is like being an emcee," said Betts. "You can imagine wanting to be a novelist or wanting to write these long essays, but if you're a poet, you can give somebody everything in two minutes — and they can walk away with it ringing in their head."
Betts' book Felon is out now.
— Produced by Cora Nijhawan